Late March and early April is the time when we swap our winter visitors for our first spring migrants. Our winter visitors head to places such as Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic and Scandinavia and our spring migrants arrive from Africa and southern Spain.
Of course, they need to be sure that they will be able to find enough food at their breeding grounds so, as you can imagine, the weather plays a big part in the timing of their departure. Winter visitors begin to move towards their destination but they may delay their departure from the UK until well into April. They’ll wait for a southerly breeze to help them on their way.
Meanwhile, also waiting for a southerly breeze are our spring migrants from as far away as southern Spain and Africa. Over the last few weeks they have been moving northwards, feeding on insects along the way. These birds have to migrate to warmer climes in the winter as they rely on insects as their main food source. They can only advance northwards when the weather is suitable for insects to thrive. In Leeds, the first sign of spring migration is the sound of the chiffchaff, in or around the second week of March. This little warbler has a thin, stuttering and metallic ‘chiff-chaff’, ‘chiff-chaff’ song and it likes to sing from tall trees as it looks for a territory.
Around this time, birdwatchers will also be out looking for other early migrants such as wheatear, ring ouzel and sand martin. Wheatears have a characteristic white rump and can be found on rough ground looking for insects. They are gradually making their way to grassy moorland habitat but could easily turn up in your local field or manure pile. Ring ouzels are mountain blackbirds. They have a white band around their chest, and scaly feathers, and are heading up to wooded ghylls on moorland habitat.
Many of you will know the sand martin. They traditionally nest in sandy river banks but they take very well to artificial nest sites placed near water at nature reserves. Many nature reserves have installed artificial sand martin banks which are generally a great success. Swallows and little ringed plovers are also arriving so do keep your eyes peeled when birding at your local nature areas.
As we move into April, the beautifully melodic sound of the willow warbler will become the sound of summer. This bird looks very similar to the chiffchaff but sounds very different. It prefers lower growing trees in more open habitat. Their song is also thin but it is sweet, starts off high and gradually descends down the scale, like a waterfall.
Arriving about the same time as the willow warbler is the blackcap. This warbler is larger and likes dense shrubs. The male is grey with a black cap; the female has a ginger cap. Male blackcaps have a fast, fluty song which sounds like a blackbird played at high speed. Some of you may have had blackcaps overwintering in your garden but it is thought that these are not the same birds that breed in the UK.
Look and listen for spring visitors in your area and get in touch if you need any help identifying them.
Contact me for a list of walks taking place in and around Leeds over the spring months Call 07778 768719, email linda@startbirding.co.uk or visit www.startbirding.co.uk. You can also find out what we’ve seen on our walks via Twitter @StartBirding and Facebook/StartBirding