Lockdown listing

27th March 2020 | Marek Walford

Well, that escalated quickly! Since Monday 23rd March the UK has been on lockdown. It wasn't entirely clear what this meant for birding as people looked to exploit loopholes. However, I think it's now pretty clear that you shouldn't travel by car to go birding. You might be lucky in that your exercise walk from home includes some good birding, but most of us are stuck with birding our gardens.

So, let's make the most of it! Fourteen people are already taking part in the 2020 garden year list competition but I thought I'd add an extra dimension to this, so I invite you to add your lockdown total to the notes box. This is anything seen or heard, in, or from your garden, since 8.30pm on 23rd March. Calls recorded at night and images captured on camera traps don't count! If you're a regular Berkshire birder but live outside the county then please enter too.

Unless you lived through WWII you won't have a lockdown list. Birders love lists and now you can have a new one! And there's more! There will be a prize, maybe more, depending what I can find around the house. I have a spare copy of Britain's Birds: An Identification Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland which will go to the person with the highest lockdown total.

Click here to enter your total. Good luck!