The group of around 500 golden plovers are still in residence on Spring Hill but will be returning to the moors of Yorkshire and Scotland in the next few weeks, to breed and change into their genuinely golden summer plumage. The fieldfares and redwings will head off at much the same time for their much longer journey to Scandinavia. The skylarks on Spring Hill will stay with us for the summer and are already in beautiful voice.
We are noticing the increase in bird song, and the first signs of nest building. Most of our small garden birds nest at less than 2 metres from the ground. It is amazing that we don’t spot more of them! Robins tend to nest at or very close to ground level, The benefit of nests in hedges, shrubs and ivy is not only does it offer protection from predators, but also from the elements. For others, such as nuthatches, starlings and blue, great and coal tits an existing hole in a tree makes an ideal home.
The summer visitors will be with us soon. The first to arrive are usually swallows, which have been arriving in the village in the first ten days of April for at least the last dozen years. The house martins should be next and then the swifts. Also look out for chiffchaffs, blackcaps, and whitethroats arriving in April.
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