SPRING MIGRATION

 Spring for me is always a great time of year, the days start to get longer and the weather a bit warmer and also I look forward to welcoming back our  Spring migrants to the farm. From April on we get a nice selection of migrating birds here, but the one we always listen out for is the Cuckoo.

the cuckoo returns

This year the male has been quite showy and vocal so I was able to get some half decent shots of him.

cuckoo being harassed by meadow pipits

The Cuckoo is constantly being harassed by Meadow pipits which on the farm is it's main host species.

Also nice to see arriving are the Willow Warblers this tiny little bird with it's descending song flies here all the way from Africa to breed.

willow warbler

It's seems strange to me how we never get any Chiff Chaff up here it's a very close relative of the Willow Warbler and likes similar habitat but for some reason they don't settle here.

A bird that always does well here is the Redstart they're a hole nester and has benefitted from the nest boxes that we've put up around the place. Always great to welcome them back especially the Spring males which are very handsome birds indeed.

spring male

female

I've managed to get both male and female on the same post. I hope they're successful this year.

Moving on and the next Summer visitor is the Wheatear a very handsome bird of our uplands.  Although I've noticed over the last few years that they are very much in decline. They nested up here in good numbers going back five or six years ago but this year I've only seen them very rarely and only in one's and very rarely a pair together.

wheatear 

They are becoming a rare sight now and it would be such a shame to lose them altogether from my local patch.

The Swallows have always come back to the farm year on year but this year they were really late not arriving until late April. We have finally got a pair here now and they have started to build their nest in my rusty old shed. I think they spend a good few days after arriving feeding up after their long journey, this is so they can get into condition for breeding.

swallow

The last migrant that visits us every year is the Tree Pipit another host for the Cuckoo and a very similar looking bird to it's very close cousin the Meadow Pipit.

tree pipit in the dappled sunlight

These constantly sing either from a suitable perch or in their parachuting display flight where they'll drift either from one perch to another or from a tree to the ground.

another

Here's one from his favourite lampost he's back and fore this post all the time, which means there could be nest close by.

on his favourite post

Lovely to see all our migrating birds back here for the Spring and Summer, it would be great if a few more species decided to nest with us at the farm. There were in years gone by good numbers of Whinchat here but for whatever reason we no longer have them, but for the one's we do have here lets hope they successfully bring on the next generation of our Spring migrants.