Common Redstart - A Real Joy

 One of my favourite Summer migrants is back in the country and I'm so pleased. The Redstart is a bird a long for once we get past the winter months. Countless checks of areas I'm likely to find one start in earnest from the end of March. These are in hope more than belief that one has come across early. Even still, the anticipation on those visits keeps me restless. Is that one? No. Is that one? No. And so the pattern continues, usually until mid April when they do eventually arrive. 

I'm lucky enough to live in an area of the north west where these colourful little birds choose to call home for several months of the year. I've spent some good early mornings with these over recent weeks and they are fascinating to watch, as the males flit between branches and the ground for spiders and insects, and then remember their duty of singing to attract a mate. The song is what gives them away best in wooded areas, because they are not the biggest of birds, and are quite often found up in the canopy of the trees. It's a lovely fluty song. 

Anyway, here is a lovely male Redstart. I hope to see many more in the coming months.

What a beautiful bird, and worth the wait and the many failed attempts to locate one earlier.