LITTLE GREEN SPACE

As we head further into spring, morning birdsong is becoming louder and louder. The dawn chorus is at its best in the months of April, May and June – and it’s a wonderful natural phenomenon that’s worth getting up early for!

One of the first birds to start singing in the morning is the robin – in fact, this bird’s tuneful song can sometimes be heard well before sunrise, when it’s still dark.

Other early risers include blackbirds – with their beautiful song full of rich, fluty notes – and song thrushes.

Listen out too for some of our summer visiting birds, whose calls can be heard from March onwards. One of the first birds to return to parts of the UK is the chiffchaff, and its distinctive, repetitive two-note call – which gives the bird its name – is a sure sign that spring has arrived.

Chiffchaffs are easier to hear than they are to see. It’s a small, olive-brown bird that frequents woodlands, wetlands, farmland and gardens. It’s often confused with the willow warbler; if in doubt, look at the legs – a chiffchaff’s legs are almost always dark, whereas the willow warbler has pale legs.

Five more summer birds to spot or hear

Swallows and house martins usually arrive during April, and can be seen performing spectacular aerodynamic displays over fields and waterways as they search for insects to eat.

These birds spend the winter in Africa. During migration back to the UK, they can travel up to 200 miles a day – a hazardous journey, which not all of them survive.

It can be hard to tell house martins and swallows apart, as both birds have glossy, blue-black backs and a white belly.

So the easiest way to distinguish between them is to look at the tail. Swallows have long, streaming, forked tails, whereas the house martin’s tail – also forked – is shorter and stumpier.

Swallows are larger than house martins, and have a red throat patch. House martins, meanwhile, have a white patch on their lower backs, just above the tail.

Where you see these birds may also give a clue as to which species they are. Swallows are often seen swooping low over fields and meadows, scooping up small insects as they fly. They are extremely agile in flight, and spend most of their time on the wing.

As their name suggests, house martins are more often seen around towns and villages, making their mud nests beneath the eaves of houses and other buildings.

Another species that spends winter in Africa and visits the UK in summer is the swift. Swifts are similar in appearance to swallows and house martins – but they arrive a little later in the year, usually in May, after a migration journey of around 3,400 miles.

Swifts have scythe-like wings, and are often seen circling high up in the sky. You will probably hear them before you see them – they have a high-pitched screaming call, which has earned them the folk name of ‘devil bird’ and the collective noun ‘a scream of swifts’.

In April and May, keep an ear out for cuckoos. These dove-sized birds have an unmistakable call that signals the start of summer.

Cuckoos are famous for their unusual and somewhat sneaky nesting habits. Rather than building their own nests, the female lays her eggs in the nests of other birds – secretively removing an egg from the host nest, and replacing it with her own.

The unsuspecting host birds then take care of the cuckoo egg and the resulting hatchling, bringing it food and continuing to feed it as it grows – even though the young cuckoo often grows much bigger than its adoptive parents.

Nightjars are usually one of the last summer migrants to arrive, making an appearance in late April and May. They only stay in the UK for a short while – by September most of them have headed back to their African homes for winter.

Nightjars are ground-breeding birds that nest on moorlands, heathlands and in woodland clearings. They are nocturnal birds, with a distinctive whirring call that starts at dusk – it sounds a little like the chirping of cicadas. We have sometimes heard them calling, as night falls, in Forestry England conifer plantations near Matlock.

Swift action

Cuckoos, house martins and swifts have a red UK conservation status – this means they have suffered severe declines in recent years, and could be at risk of extinction.

These birds, along with chiffchaffs, nightjars and swallows, all eat insects – so, when insect numbers drop, the birds suffer too. To help them, attract insects to your garden by planting plenty of nectar-rich, pollinator-friendly plants, and avoid the use of pesticides and weedkillers.

Many birds, including cuckoos, eat caterpillars. So growing some caterpillar food plants such as nettles, lady’s smock, garlic mustard, honesty, nasturtiums and hawthorn will also help.

Another way to help swifts is to get involved with swift surveys being run by Derbyshire Swift Conservation (www.derbyshireswiftconservation.co.uk).

Derbyshire Swift Conservation was formed in response to the massive decline of swifts across Derbyshire and the UK as a whole.

One major problem facing swifts is a lack of suitable nesting sites. Derbyshire Swift Conservation is helping by identifying the location of existing nest sites, to ensure they are protected, and by installing swift boxes and swift bricks on buildings.

Identifying the locations of swift nest sites is more easily done during the breeding season, from 1 June to 31 July, when adult birds will be busy feeding their young and returning frequently to the nesting site.

Swifts are often seen high up in the sky, but when swifts are spotted at lower levels – especially when the birds are flying between buildings at roof level – this could indicate that they are nesting nearby. Nesting swifts can often be spotted at dusk, as they return to the nest to roost.

By watching for nesting swifts for an hour or more, volunteers can help identify nest locations. This vital information can then be submitted to Derbyshire Swift Conservation to help protect these beautiful birds.

For more information about swift surveys, contact Derbyshire Swift Conservation via the website, or email info@derbyshireswift conservation.co.uk.

And to find out how to help all UK birds and wildlife, visit the RSPB website at www.rspb.org.uk.

Penny Bunting

www.littlegreenspace.org.uk

Bluesky @lgspace.bsky.social