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earliest arrivals for swallows martins etc. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
Today apparently!!House Martin in Suffolk.
Edit: When I lived in Sussex I 'd consider myself unlucky if I hadn't seen Swallow and House Martin by the end of March.
Edit: When I lived in Sussex I 'd consider myself unlucky if I hadn't seen Swallow and House Martin by the end of March.
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Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
South coast perhaps, but 'up north':
Sand Martin - odd ones very end of March (if you're lucky!); bulk arrival from around 10 April
Swallow - odd ones from around 15 April (rarely earlier; bulk arrival from 20-25 April)
House Martin - odd ones from 15-20 April; bulk arrival from 25-30 April
Paul Longland
Well-known member
Depends how far north you are.
generally most regions except the far north would expect the first sand martins to start appearing anytime from mid march onwards, with the swallows and house martins a couple of weeks later.
The former tend to arrive en-mass. It is not unusual for one or two swallows/HM to mixed in with them ahead of the bulk arrivals so it is always worth checking them out. The early arrivals usually appear over significant bodies of water where the spring nymph hatches provide a food source spreading to other areas as temperatures increase and there are more flying insects around.
Whilst your question refers to martins/swallows, if interested the last to arrive are the common swifts which will be a month or so later, typically early/mid May.
Jon Turner
Well-known member
Report of an Osprey in South Devon today too.
Mike Crawley
Emeritus President at Burnage Rugby Club
IMHuO "first" and "last" dates are occasionally skewed by birders with megalomaniac tendencies determined to get into their local bird society annual report. Some I have seen are clearly aberrant. Single observer reports of common birds a day or two prior or post previous "first" and "last" dates.
Today's sighting seems a little odd given that yesterday was "Doris day"
Today's sighting seems a little odd given that yesterday was "Doris day"
Sangahyando
Well-known member
Usually, they arrive a few weeks later than the swallows (particularly Barn Swallows, who're relatively early). Though that's talking from a Central European perspective.
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Cuckoos - in northeast England, usually around 5 May for numbers; the occasional early one in late April.
They are distinctly earlier (good numbers by late April) on the west coast of Scotland though.
They are distinctly earlier (good numbers by late April) on the west coast of Scotland though.
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
Two sightings of Swallow in January - one in Dorset and an other that spent four days in Walthamstow.
Jon Turner
Well-known member
Sand Martin at Catcott Lows in Somerset today. Given the relatively high temperatures and strong winds, I'm not greatly surprised, but it is at least 2 weeks early.
Paul Chapman
Well-known member
Useful information here of first dates for different observatories and counties:-
https://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack/bird-recording/by-migration-season/spring-migration
All the best
https://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack/bird-recording/by-migration-season/spring-migration
All the best
