IDENTIFIER

Summer birds

Can you swiftly tell a wheatear from a whinchat from a willow warbler? Fear not, our handy guide to some seasonal visitors can help. After all, just one swallow does not a summer make…

Turtle dove

Arrives not on the second day of Christmas, but about the second month of spring. And, it’s ‘turr, turr’ love, according to its call.

Swift

As speedy as the name suggests, reaching nearly 70mph. The swift’s retreat at the end of July covers some 3,000-plus miles.

Whinchat

Looking for a chat? Head to north and west Britain to find these small birds on fences and bushes in the whin-dow of April to September.

Wheatear

Winters in central Africa but has a thoroughly Old English name, meaning ‘white arse’. The bottom line? Most seen in the North and West.

Yellow wagtail

Likes to summer on the hoof: found in damper pastures, hanging around the feet of cattle in search of insects for their food.

Willow warbler

Though melancholic in song, happily it’s a common summer migrant – branches out from willow to enjoy birch and alder woodland, too.

Nightingale

Though Keats may write it ‘singest of summer’, they’re generally off again by July. To hear it ‘pour forth’, try the southeast in April and June.

Swallow

Here for the full span of summer, before covering around 200 miles a day to southern Africa. Insects are their dish of choice, swallowable en route.

Cuckoo

Passes on parental rearing duties by laying its eggs in other birds’ nests, so leaves the UK by early June, before you can say ‘cuck-who’?

These beautiful birds are the work of Lucy, who sells stationery celebrating the wildlife of the British Isles – including journals, cards and tick sheets – through her Etsy shop Therewild, therewild.etsy.com