As I write, many birds are busy feeding their second brood of the year, In the garden our resident wren is out of the nest box every few minutes, usually returning with a fat grub for the chicks hidden within. We can’t wait to see the tiny fledglings out and about. Peter has seen a lesser whitethroat with food in its beak, hissing angrily at the proximity of a human, so he must have been very close to the nest.
Overhead the swifts are out every evening, screaming through the sky in search of food. There seems to be a good number this year, which is great news. In August they will head off on their huge journey to Africa – returning to us next year to precisely find the place they left from! Our cuckoos have already left on the same journey.
All our juvenile birds, born this year, will be looking like adults as August wears on. One of the reasons that the garden can appear empty in August is that most youngsters will move away. It is still uncertain why they do this, perhaps to avoid the territory of their parents, or to ensure that siblings stay well apart to avoid the chance of interbreeding. These dispersing birds find others doing the same thing, and often join up into roving flocks of different species.
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