Local Lock Down Wildlife Walk

The Lock Down of the UK due to the Coronavirus was instigated on March 23rd as expected with the only reasons now to leave your home being to buy food, to go to work if you can't work from home, to care for a vulnerable person and for exercise. I have to buy food and as an NHS keyworker I have to go to work but I am keeping away from helping to care for my vulnerable mother-in-law who is in a high risk group.

My exercise is my wildlife walking but my options are now limited although Plymouth Hoe, The River Plym and Saltram Park are all reachable by foot from my front door and so these places will become my hopefully weekly allowed exercise walks by following these rules - social distancing is to be maintained by keeping 2 metres apart from others when out of the house, not meeting up with friends and family when out and to only walk with members of your household, all of which are fine by me. And so with the settled, dry, sunny but cool and windy weather continuing I needed to get out for a walk on Saturday 28th March and walked from home to Saltram Park and back.

It was a glorious day and especially welcome after what seems to have been 5 months of continuous rain and wind and people were out and about walking or cycling although numbers were much, much lower than would normally be expected.

It was odd to see the roads and paths so quiet and to cross the road or move away from walkers and cyclists in order to keep 2 metres apart and I found myself avoiding eye contact with anyone passing me by instead of offering a greeting as I usually do with everybody else seeming to be doing the same.

It was great to be out and about though and I had a very enjoyable walk with the highlights being a Greenshank and a male Goosander along the River Plym while within Saltram Park Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Nuthatch, 3 Stock Doves, a pair of Mandarin Ducks on a pond in the woods (where dogs are usually disturbing any birds present) and a Mistle Thrush were seen.

 Greenshank, River Plym

 Mandarin Duck, Saltram

Mandarin Duck, Saltram

I didn't hear any Ring-necked Parakeets but a Green Woodpecker constantly yaffled away near Saltram House but kept itself out of sight. I hear Green Woodpeckers regularly but often struggle to see them, their yaffling being almost a mocking laugh aimed at me.

Violets were flowering and Bees and Bee Flys were buzzing and I had a brief view of a tatty Small Tortoiseshell along with better views of a few Peacock and Comma.

 Violets, Saltram

 Bee Sp., Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram 

Comma, Saltram

Roe Deer were feeding out on the grass before retreating to the safety of the nearby hillside to chew the cud and a total of 14 were seen, the highest count I have had for them in Saltram Park.

 Roe Deer, Saltram

A strange walk but very much needed and very restorative in these weird and frankly scary times. My work is stressful and difficult enough on a good day and wildlife watching (and chocolate and alcohol!) gets me through it and with a complete shit storm potentially hitting my work place soon I need even more to loose myself in the natural world.

I have already been lamenting the loss of getting out for the spring migration but am hopeful of catching up with some of the summer migrants as they return south in the autumn, assuming that things may be a little less restrictive then than they are now and assuming I stay well and healthy. And in the bigger scheme of what is going on in the world at the moment there is always (hopefully) next year.

Having the River Plym, Plymouth Hoe and Saltram close by is a big plus and at least I will be able to get out there and find some good stuff - unless the rules change. And it will be good for my waist line too!