West claimed first swallow of spring – and plenty else besides

WHEN it comes to breaking wildlife news, the West Country boasted plenty of ‘firsts’ this spring as a number of early birds were recorded here before anywhere else in the country.

A fascinating round-up of first arrivals by the bird information service Rare Bird Alert reveals that the South West led the way with reports of a number of migrant species.

The Lizard peninsula came up trumps with the first UK swallow of 2021, spotted on February 16 – astonishingly early. Over the last two decades the median first reported date in the UK is February 23, with the bulk arriving well over a month later. However, the website experts say a few may even over-winter in the region rather than flying all the way south, “clouding the analysis of arrival dates”.

Britain’s first arctic tern of the year was spotted in Thurlestone Bay, south Devon, on April 11 – an early sighting for this longdistance migrant – and a whitethroat on March 21 at Bovey Tracey, ahead of the usual first records of the year.

The Isles of Scilly provide an obvious stopover location for migrating birds, offering a convenient place to touch down after flying over the sea, and it had four ‘firsts’ this year, including a common tern on March 15, a spotted flycatcher on April 24, and a couple of scarcer visitors: a golden oriole on April 24 and a hoopoe on March 6. Dorset led the way with, among other species, willow warbler, nightjar and ring ouzel, while Somerset saw the UK’s first reed warbler and quail.

As for the first cuckoo of 2021, the West was unable to claim top honours. It was sighted very early in Suffolk on March 17. As Rare Bird Alert says: “Late March reports are few and far between and some may be the result of eagerness to get ‘that letter’ published in

> The UK’s firest reed warbler this year was spotted in Somerset