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Paul Holt on his lockdown activities in the U.K.



May 06: Paul Holt on his lockdown activities in the U.K.

Following tours to Myanmar and North India I couldn't get back to China and ended up, reluctantly, returning to the UK where I remain. Three months on from when I left Qingyu, my partner and the ‘fixer’ for all of our myriad China tours, is still under lock down in our apartment in Beijing. Very local birding in East Lancashire has given me a chance to reacquaint myself with many of the common birds of my youth (and has brought home exactly why I left!) In between various chores I've been busy sound recording several commoner species in the garden. A few of my recordings, nearly identical to the thousands of others already on the internet, can be listened to at –

Common Blackbird https://www.xeno-canto.org/544271
Song Thrush https://www.xeno-canto.org/546323
European Robin https://www.xeno-canto.org/546325
Mistle Thrush https://www.xeno-canto.org/546314
Eurasian Blackcap https://www.xeno-canto.org/546304
Rook https://www.xeno-canto.org/546319

That’s all for the moment. You really wouldn’t want a photo of me right now – I’ve not been anywhere near a barber since mid-January and look positively Neanderthal-ish.

(Editor's note: Paul may be right that there are thousands of internet recordings of the above species but there aren't many of this quality. If you have time for only one, try the Eurasian Blackcap.) 

Posted: May 06, 2020