Advice on Earlswood birding during the COVID-19 lock-down

Posted 24/03/2020
Updated 26/03/2020
Updated 18/04/2020

New guidance issued by the National Police Chiefs' Council has been posted on the facebook page of Alcester Police, regarding travel for exercise. They say:

"The NPCC guidance below sets out a range of 'likely' and 'unlikely' reasonable excuses. It is worth reading the statement on the first image to get a better understanding of how the excuses are to be interpreted."

All three pages of guidance as follows, but those relevant to exercise/birding are on the first two:

Much of the below is still applicable though, particularly in terms of risk of coming into contact with infected people at the lakes and woods during nice weather, and the need to suppress rare/scarce bird news to discourage twitches/gatherings.

Birders should not be driving to Earlswood to exercise during the lock-down since this involves non-essential travel. The following is addressed to birders who live within walking distance of the areas of Earlswood they can legally exercise at.

Hi folks,

In light of the nationwide coronavirus (COVID-19) lock-down announced yesterday evening, please follow government guidance first and foremost when going about local birding. The government are still permitting people to leave their home for "one form of exercise a day" (including walking) alone or with members of their household, exercise starting and finishing from their home.

A number of Earlswood birders live within the patch recording area and will still be birding from their gardens or whilst out exercising during this time. Recognising this, and following some discussion between local birders regarding patch bird news dissemination over the course of this pandemic, we would like to recommend the following:

• If you wish to post updates and photos about Earlswood birds publicly on social media, please do so only for regular bird species and only after nightfall. Regular birds are residents and annually-occurring visiting species which are unlikely to cause a twitch or other gathering of birders. These reports and photos provide interest and pleasure to those of us who are no longer able to visit the patch, and help us to keep in touch and feel less isolated. Posting after nightfall will help to reduce the likelihood of birders acting upon instant news.
• Please do not share news or photos for rare/scarce bird species at Earlswood publicly on social media, until the lock-down is officially over. Rare/scarce birds are any species which do not occur every year, or which are annual but infrequent or particularly popular with observers, and can hang around, i.e. twitchable, such as Black Tern.
• Exceptions to this might be posting news/photos of untwitchable rare/scarce birds, such as those flying over or in nocmig recordings on patch, on social media. For example, a repeat of the 2 White Storks that flew over last year.

The key point here is to use some common sense and consider the consequences of putting news out, to prevent non-essential travel and potential gatherings. If in doubt, please drop me an email or DM.

Since the start of the lock-down, there have been reports of angling, picnicking and large numbers of walkers around the lakes still during the nice weather. Therefore, exercising at the lakes (and probably the woods) has a higher risk for coming into contact with infected people than other accessible areas. 

Anyone exercising at the lakes or woods should also consider the following:

• In places around the lakes and woods, it will not be possible for people to pass each other at a safe 2-metre distance apart, due to some paths being narrow and/or very muddy.
• The wooden fishing platforms around Engine Pool are potentially useful for avoiding close contact with other people, but some of them are rotting in places and potentially unsafe to walk on.

These recommendations are open to further discussion and amendment. The situation in terms of birders using Earlswood during the lock-down will be monitored, in case there is a need for full news blackout.

Wishing everyone to stay safe and well.

Matt