Passing trade: night-time garden arrivals on nature's great flyway

The days are shortening, the elderberries are blackening, and there's a definite whiff of autumn on the horizon.

For those birds which are only summer visitors to Britain, their hormones now respond to the seasonal changes underway, telling their bodies to pack on the fat and get ready for long, intercontinental flights ahead. Thousands of warblers and flycatchers, Swallows and martins are destined for unimaginable journeys that will take them across the Sahara and into Africa.

For those birds born this year, many barely two or three months old, this is the most extreme maiden journey, and they must do it alone. So they prepare. 

In the case of most of our warblers, they begin by wandering more widely around the area where they were born, becoming familiar with the landscape they will hopefully return to.

They then make an initial short night flight in a southerly direction, and it is in doing so some land up in unfamiliar places, including gardens.

So, for instance, this week I peered out of my bedroom window first thing in the morning and could see a little brown bird peeking out from my shrubbery.

It was indeed one of those 'little brown jobs', and as it hopped out to give a better view, I could see it had a whitish throat, pale eye ring, but very few other clear markings. However, the face is rather long and pointed, and the feathers under the tail are quite long and thick - you can see them in this next photo. It is a Reed Warbler, a long way from any reedbed.

It was taking in the morning sunshine, catching some insects and having a preen, so vital for keeping its plumage in tip-top condition for longer flights ahead.

As I watched, it was joined by a Robin, also grabbing the chance to spruce up its feathers - birds are very vulnerable when they are preening, so if they do it with other birds around them, there are more eyes to watch for danger.

The Reed Warbler will have arrived in my garden overnight, so we have the temporary visitor sat next to one of my residents.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted a third bird lurking in the background right. Pale and brown, you'd be forgiven for thinking it is another Reed Warbler, and the dark shadow over its crown might make you think of Blackcap, but it is actually a Garden Warbler,.

The name hardly does them justice, for they are far from frequent visitors to gardens, much preferring dense scrub and young woodlands. Like the Reed Warbler, it will have touched down overnight, and also be hoping to prepare for a longer seacrossing of the English Channel and on down across Europe and the Med.

By the next day, there was no trace of either of the warblers, but a Willow Warbler was now darting along the pond edge, another new arrival in the conveyor belt of migrants.

What will it be tomorrow? Through September, the suite of temporary visitors will switch to Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, with maybe a Spotted Flycatcher or two, and I'm hoping for a Redstart or Pied Flycatcher to drop in. With all the berries and insects in the garden, they will hopefully find a nutritious snack to fuel them on their way

Such is the excitement of migration season. Even in cities, the unexpected can drop in, and the more that your garden is stocked with lush planting of trees and shrubs, akin to a sunny glade, and preferably surrounding a liovely pond, the greater your chances.

So keep your eyes peeled for the passing show. Many of the birds involved might be rather small and insignificant looking, but the adventure they are on is mind-blowing.