Altering Seasons – 10,000 Birds

Right here in japanese England, spring all the time arrives in suits and begins. We loved some fantastically heat and sunny climate earlier within the month, however then the wind swung again to the north, bringing with it a nasty blast of arctic air. Winter made an return, although we had been spared snow. This week began with sharp frosts, whereas the wind, now easterly, made the times really feel very chilly. However in the present day (20 March – the spring equinox) the wind has swung once more, this time to the south, bringing with it heat air and a temperature of 19degC (66degF). It feels positively balmy. 

Our native Blackbirds began singing in mid March

Chiffchaffs return in March, when the bushes are nonetheless naked of leaves

The pure world is fast to reply to the sunshine and the hotter temperatures. The blackthorn bushes at the moment are smothered in white blossom, whereas the hawthorns’ buds are cracking to point out a touch of pastel inexperienced. The birds have began singing with actual enthusiasm, too. This morning’s early morning canine stroll was a loud affair, with an abundance of birdsong. Blue, Nice and Coal Tits, Robins, Music Thrushes and Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Wrens and Yellowhammers had been all celebrating the hotter, longer days.

With the breeding season so shut, Nice Tits are in superb feather

Of our summer time migrants, solely the Chiffchaff has arrived in numbers to date. I heard my first on 4th March, my earliest date ever – I often reckon to notice my first across the twelfth or thirteenth. The Chiffchaff’s easy, onomatopoeic tune is probably the most cheering of sounds, and it’s one I will likely be listening to day by day now till effectively into July. In Dutch the fowl known as the Tjiftjaf, whereas the Germans comprehend it because the Zilpzalp, each of which appear spot on. 

Wrens sing all year long, however are at their noisiest now

The one different spring migrant I’ve seen to date is the Stone Curlew, with a pair at Westleton Heath on the Suffolk coast on thirteenth March. This can be a typical early date for these unusual, crepuscular waders. Most of our birds winter in Spain and North Africa, and so they are inclined to return early within the 12 months. Like Chiffchaffs, some additionally overwinter, however in very small numbers. They are often caught out by unseasonably chilly climate, and in 2018 a really chilly March led to many fatalities and a significant setback for our small inhabitants of those birds, probably the most northerly in Europe.  

Stone Curlews return to the Brecks in March

It’s not simply the long-distance migrants that mark the altering 12 months. So, too, do the short-distance migrants. Right here within the Brecks we’ve got small breeding populations of Shelducks and Oystercatchers, each species which are extra often coastal breeding birds. In latest days I’ve seen three pairs of Shelducks indulging in noisy aerial chases over my native fen. These are huge, good-looking geese, and noisy ones, too. 

Noisy aerial chase are a part of the Shelduck’s spring courtship

I’ve solely as soon as discovered proof of those geese breeding in my parish, when early one morning I got here throughout a pair of those geese main their newly hatched brood of ducklings down a lane near my home. I by no means noticed them once more, so the place they disappeared to stays a thriller. I solely see these geese regionally within the spring.

Shelduck ducklings – distinctively black and white

Traditionally, Oystercatchers had been coastal breeding birds in Suffolk, with inland nesting makes an attempt very uncommon. Nevertheless, since 1987 they’ve bred in small numbers within the Brecks, the place their desire is to put their eggs in onion fields. Noisy and conspicuous, they’re tough birds to miss. I’ll see them frequently for the subsequent 4 months, however by early August most will likely be again on the coast. I’m not sure of what number of pairs there are within the Brecks, however my feeling is which are in all probability greater than 30, and that the inhabitants is increasing slowly.

All the time one of many first butterflies of spring: a Brimstone

After all, birds are usually not the one flying creatures roused by the solar. I’ve seen three species of butterflies to date – Comma, Peacock and Brimstone – all species I count on to come across on sunny days in March. These butterflies hibernate as grownup bugs, not like the fragile and really fairly Orange-tip, the subsequent butterfly I’m more likely to see. Final evening, when out in search of roding Woodcock, I noticed a number of Noctule bats. These giant, fast-flying bats usually emerge from hibernation in mid-March – I suppose that they get up feeling hungry. I did not see a Woodcock.

Subsequent week I’m off with three friends on a birding journey to Extremadura in central Spain. Although our goal birds will likely be bustards and sandgrouse, the specialities of the area, we also needs to encounter spring migrants comparable to cuckoos and swallows which have but to succeed in as far north as England.