A rapid de-tuning of an end fed long wire (EFLW) antenna mid-QSO is usually a sign that something bad has happened, especially when the rapid de-tuning is accompanied by a lot of squawking.
Birds and EFLWs don't always coexist peacefully.
In the middle of an FT8 the other night I noticed the SWR increase dramatically. Not catastrophically, but very significantly. In the morning the cause was clear -- the far end was no longer tied to the tree as it had been. It was on the ground.
I think birds had landed either on the antenna or on the branch where the nylon line had been tied off. They clearly didn't appreciate it when the line snapped.
Neither did I!
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