Returning migrant birds - NOT amateur radio

It may be snowing in some parts of the UK, but the birds are flying back from Africa. Don't tell them or they might go back!

Every day now it seems, swallows, house martins and sand martins are reported in Devon. Even at Wicken Fen, just a few miles from here, we had a swallow reported last Saturday!

The earliest I have seen an swallow in East Anglia is April 7th. Usually the majority arrive mid April. At least they are being seen again. My heart always lifts seeing the first swallow of the year up here.

One of the memories of my dad is him telling me when he spotted the first returning house martin. He died in 1987.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/swallow

Migration - NOT amateur radio

Personally, I have no problem with the UK (or for that matter any country) deciding who can live, learn or work here. We are a tiny, overcrowded island. We will still want people to come here to study and work, but we should have the last word, not the EU.

By the way, I voted to "remain" in the EU in the referendum last year. Personally I think most "leave" voters were worried about this issue rather than anything else. Dare I say many who voted "leave" were rather simple minded and just wanted the UK of the 1950s back again? Sorry, this is NOT going to happen, ever.

According to official figures out today, net migration is lower but still way above government targets.

First swift seen - NOT amateur radio

There are some about according to the reports, but yesterday I saw my first swift this year. This is one day later than last year. I have still to see any house martins and I have not heard a cuckoo.

The impression I'm getting is there are fewer swallows, swifts and house martins this year. I maybe wrong and I hope I am. These returning migrant birds mean a lot to me.

DX birds: swallows have arrived

This morning I saw that the first swallows of the spring had arrived in our village. The swallows fly from Southern Africa all the way to Europe every spring arriving between late March and the end of April. Many nest in the same nest for years and years. The returning swallows, house martins and swifts remind me that this magical journey has been done for thousands of years and that we humans are just one small part of the Earth's diversity.