Lockdown, week 5 and counting....... the end of April.

We've reached the end of April, with the weather reverting to type and some heavy April showers and cooler temperatures. It's been a strange spring, I've not travelled more than 10 miles from home in the last 5 weeks and I've had an unparalleled chance to watch the local spring unfold with near-daily cycles or walks - aided by the sunniest April for decades. The leaves are now out and the sun is stronger, and the long spring evenings are upon us. The first Swifts are scything the air, and in the last week or so good numbers of House Martins have appeared to augment the Swallows and Sand Martins that are here for the summer. I've also observed, visually, and audibly, the staggered Warbler arrival. First, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, then in the first two weeks of April Willow and Sedge Warblers, followed a few days later by Whitethroats and Reed Warblers, then Lesser Whitethroats and Garden Warblers around 20th April. A couple of Grasshopper Warblers have also been heard, always a good find. Nightingale was quite early this year around the 12th, I find it quite emotional to stand and listen to its song almost throbbing in the air on a still dawn. Several Cuckoos were in good voice from 15th, another milestone of the spring for me. Hobbies this year were on my earliest ever date, 22nd - I thought I might find an early one, and was amazed to see a flock of 6 hawking for insects in the unseasonably hot sunshine! The dawn chorus is approaching its peak - bird song in general being more noticeable this year with the reduced traffic noise - and the next few weeks will see a frenzy of breeding activity, and hopefully the arrival of a few passage waders. These have been very thin on the ground, along with Terns, due to the lack of shower activity to interrupt migration. But Bitterns are booming, Little Ringed Plovers, one of my favourites, are back in reasonable numbers, Curlews are calling at Blakehill with their amazing, evocative and wild sounds, and dragonflies should shortly be emerging to complement the butterflies (including good numbers of Orange-Tips) that have been taking advantage of the sunny spring.