Few of those Summer Visitors

Last weekend I travelled for about fifteen miles around our Parish and nearby area looking for house martins, swallows and swifts. I was horrified at the result. It was really scary to realise how few of these summer visitors have arrived back. I had a count of ten house martins near one farm, two swallows on wires near another, and no swifts. I know from reports of friends, or seeing myself, that there are small numbers of martins and swallows in other parts of the parish e.g. several of the martins traditional nests at Walk Mill are now occupied, and the swallows back at their roost at Cotton Farm, but there really are very few. Many experts think this is down to the lack of flying insects and midges, but these species were also very badly affected on migration three years ago, being caught in an ice storm over Athens when tens, maybe hundreds of thousands died. The swift roost in Christleton has about ten individuals present as far as we can count, but this is way down on previous years. This group were also very late, so I hope there are more birds breeding than we have counted in the air. They are sleek black fliers, with scimitar wings, and scream through the air as they fly around the village at dusk. If you see them please let me know, and if possible a count of their numbers.

Magpies are not everyone’s favourite bird, but we now have a regular pair coming into our bird table to feed, and they are very colourful birds as can be seen in my first picture. Butterflies have also been scarce this spring, and I’ve pictured some of the “white” butterflies that have been around. The orange tip can be seen in my pictures in several stages, the male with flashes of orange and camouflage wings, and the female with no colour but has the camouflage underwing. I’ve seen several green veined white and in the last week, a number of large whites are now on the wing. I’ve also recently recorded, several clumps of silk larval nests or tents, in some cases with moths beginning to emerge. The most spectacular being in the central reservation of the A41 at Vicars Cross.

I am pleased to report that a pair of blue tits have successfully bred in a formerly unused nest box, which I moved earlier in spring as it hadn’t been successful when facing east. Pairs of dunnock, robins and many pairs of house sparrows have also been successful. The buzzards are still flying over daily, and the pair of kingfishers are still giving lots of joy at their nest along the canal at Waverton. I can also report that on a recent visit to Walk Mill and a field in mid Cheshire, I heard and saw several skylarks. They gave a delightful display of their flight patterns in both instances, and their song in flight is unlike any other. Just wonderful to hear them again.

Once again this month I can report hearing cettis warblers in almost every location I visit. They are without doubt spreading rapidly through the county, so easy to distinguish with their explosive call. Sedge warblers are also back in good numbers, and I saw and heard, cettis, sedge, reed, blackcap and common whitethroat along the river at The Platts, near the middle bridge just a week ago. Further afield mute swans seem to be doing extraordinarily well on the Serpentine in London, as are Canada and Egyptian geese. I was able to film the geese and their goslings, in particular, crossing over paths in the park, as they moved to new feeding grounds. I was also delighted to see that virtually all the mute swans were ringed with deep orange rings. I look forward to seeing them in other areas during the summer.