Favourite first 'migrant' birds to see in spring

A month ago I predicted to a friend that we'd hear our first chiffchaff on 17 March. No show so far :-(

...but I'm confident one will start tweeting away in the next week...

Think for me, the swifts are tops - their late arrival and early departure bookends the high summer period so perfectly.

Colin

Hi,

the first wheatear always says Spring to me, but the first Ring Ouzel always makes my week :)

S

for me its gotta be the reed warblers, i'll be visiting ellesmere lakes over the next week to see if any as arrived... such small birds and the nest they make is realy a work of art..

chiffchaffs and swallows, house martins are another fav... i am hopeing to get some swallows in flight shot this year as a farmer friend lets me set up the camera outside his barn doors so fingers cross.

Hi Colin

No show on the Chiff Chaffs so not good for your friend - now that is a precise date for their calls.  Never knew there was such a close date on their activity.  Will keep my ears and eyes open for them to appear. 

While on our last trip to Marston Vale at the end of January 2010, we heard a Chiff Chaff but not in the normal sense.....if that makes sense.  The call was very diluted and unimportant.  I was under the impression it was a resident bird to the area.  Still the call was dead pan compared with its normal activities.  Love to hear the normal Chiff Chaff call as it sounds once more any day.

Swifts are just the best, and they are so  dramatic in their flight.  Love them a whole lot.  Having said that Dave loves the Swallows and House Martins too.

Hope to hear news from The Lodge that all the Swallows, Swifts, House Martin and even Sand Martins appear once more.  All will be in the area to be sure.  Sand Martins at Castle Mill Sluice is a safe bet each year. They are in their dozens from my observations from the last year.

Love to hear any news on the bird front

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Unknown said:

A month ago I predicted to a friend that we'd hear our first chiffchaff on 17 March. No show so far :-(

...but I'm confident one will start tweeting away in the next week...

Think for me, the swifts are tops - their late arrival and early departure bookends the high summer period so perfectly.

Colin

Hi Kestrel

Reed Warblers fabulous any day. They are such little posers when they bounce about the tops of the reeds they like to live in.  They are so vocal too along with their endless body action too.

Sounds like your friend with the camera is a friend indeed.  Love to see the results form the birding activity in your patch any day,  I will keep all parts of my body crossed for you, due success of your camera work.

Hi Seymour

I would love to see an Ringed Ouzel anyday. Are they local to your patch at all?  They are so rare are they not?

As for the Wheat ear are they not early risers on land which is well looked after ie.... golf Courses. Wheat ear like their lay of the land perfect for what they like to eat.  A bird of taste of course

Regards

Kathy and Dave

We missed out on seeing an Osprey yesterday afternoon so it is good to see them back in the country,safe and sound.

Our male Reed Bunting is still a regular visitor to our garden although he is on his own now so hopefully his partner is sitting tightly on eggs...

Our Blue tits have been showing only a partial interest in the nest box this year and we wonder if they will nest with us this year,seeing that they deserted the nest of chicks last year for some unknown reason and we didn't know until Mr Robyn cleaned out the nest box a few weeks ago.We just thought they had all flown the nest and we had missed them as they always used to go in the early morning other years.

Kathy we have only ever seen a Ring Ouzel once while we were staying up in the North Pennines although we have never seen once since.

We have Sand Martins in our county at the moment and I am looking forward to hearing the Swifts screeming over head in the summer months and only once have we ever seen them mating on the wing which was so brief we nearly missed it lol.

The Shorties are still about plus Golden Plovers in the same area and a Nordic Jackdaw is in the county plus a Northern Wheatear and a Blackcap was seen in someones garden last week...

Hi,

Ring Ouzels start to come through west Norfolk normally about now- late March- I look for them along the wash coast from Snettisham through Heacham up to Hunstanton. The east coast of Norfolk north from  Great Yarmouth to Cromer is also good- lots of quiet grassy areas in closed holiday camps :)

S

Hi Kathy

If I had to pick one bird which I look forward to seeing most it would the Swallow. To me it symbolises the true arrival of Spring as opposed to these early still chilly days. To see them hawking low over fields and lakes trying to replenish their energy after their long journey and twittering excitedly to be back is a thrilling sight.

Last Spring I visited Lesvos (wonderful place for birds by the way). One of the most memorable experiences was a visit to the salt pans early one morning. It was barely light and quite cold and there sitting on the tarmac were literally hundreds of swallows trying to get some residual warmth into their tiny bodies from the road. Later in the day when it had warmed up there were thousands filling the sky. Quite a sight.

They are such feisty little birds too. I remember seeing between 50 and 100 swallows mobbing a kestrel down in Andalucia.

When you think that they have travelled all the way from southern Africa, raise several broods and then travel all the way back again with heaven knows how many hazards on the way I'm full of admiration for them. I think this is why I'm so pleased to see them. And what's more they can live happily alongside us if we give them the right habitat.

Tony

My favourite returning bird is the swallow too.  They hunt over the field behind the house and line up to rest on the telephone wire outside my bedroom window.  Seeing them always makes me feel that summer is just around the corner.  Combine this with skylarks singing their hearts out and my day is complete :-))