They’re back! The ospreys have returned from Africa to breed in Scotland. Not just ospreys, but warblers, chiff chaffs and sand martins. Then today I saw my first swallows soaring and swooping.
I’ve seen an osprey fishing at a local loch on several occasions now, sometimes making several splashdowns before making off with a sizeable fish in its talons.
This one was being chased by a pigeon! I’ve seen ospreys being mobbed by gulls or crows but was amused at the pigeon having a go.
Last week as well as trying to photograph ospreys I was also pursuing willow warblers, listening out for their melodic twitterings as they flitted about the tree tops.
By sight willow warblers are hard to distinguish from chiff chaffs but they sound completely different.
The chiff chaff does just what its name says – a repetitive “chiff chaff chiff chaff chiff chaff”.
Sand martins travel back from the Sahel desert, south of the Sahara. They nest in colonies, making tunnels in vertical banks.
Then later on, a real sign that summer is not too far away, the swallows return. They can travel over 200 miles a day, feeding on insects as they fly. They come all the way from South Africa, following routes either straight up through Africa, or following the West coast, or following the Nile Valley.
My heart lifted when I spotted a pair wheeling and swooping around me as I sat looking out for ospreys by the loch. You know it’s a swallow and not a swift or a sand martin when you see its long forked tail.
Now I’m just waiting to hear my first cuckoo call out from the woods. They fly back from central Africa. Thankfully no travel restrictions or covid passport worries for birds! Although their journeys are perilous and they have other battles to face.
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 