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The return of our summer breeding birds from their wintering grounds around the Mediterranean or in Africa is an annual delight.

Each species returns at its own special time - chiffchaffs are usually the first returning migrants, in mid March, while spotted flycatchers and swifts rarely return before May.

In recent years certain migrants, including chiffchaffs and blackcaps, have been returning earlier, presumably in response to climate change.

However, others, such as cuckoos and swifts, show little change. Keep a record of when you hear your first cuckoo or see you first swallow and after a few years you should be able to predict when your local birds are likely to arrive.

Cuckoo

The far-carrying call of the cuckoo is one of the most evocative sounds of spring. The first cuckoos are invariably recorded in England in early April, but it’s not until the last week of the month that most are back on their breeding grounds, with Scottish birds only a day or two behind their English cousins. Though more often heard than seen, look for them calling from prominent perches, often at the tops of trees.

Swallow

One swallow may not make a summer, but it’s always a good start. Male swallows (with longer tail streamers) always return before the females, typically checking out last year’s nest sites in early April. However, it’s not usually until late April or early May that they settle down to breed.

House martin

House martins usually return a few days after the first swallows, but in some years the bulk of the breeding population doesn’t appear until early May, and it’s not unusual for late pairs to arrive in June. These birds usually settle down to breed almost immediately.

Nightingale

It’s unusual to see the first nightingale of the spring: usually the first indication of the bird’s return is the distinctive and beautiful song, which can be heard during the day, as well as at night. As with most migrants, the males return first, and they can be heard singing from mid April. The song continues until the end of May, after which the birds are busy rearing their young, so there’s little time for singing.

Whitethroat

Unlike most warblers which are secretive and stay out of sight, whitethroats are generally easy to see because of their distinctive song flight, when they fly up several feet, delivering their distinctive scratchy song. Though some birds are back by mid April, most don’t arrive here until later in the month.

Swift

Individual early swifts may be seen from the start of the third week of April, but the great majority of the population in southern England doesn’t return until the 5th or 6th of May, when they suddenly en masse, chasing around their traditional nest sites. Northern breeding birds are later still.

Spotted flycatcher

This unobtrusive and declining species is a long-distance migrant. Our birds winter as far south as southern Africa, which may explain why they are one of the very last migrants to return, as it is rare to see one before the second week of May.

Nightjar

This secretive species is another late returner. April records are few: it’s often not until mid-May that the far-carrying, churring song of this curious, crepuscular bird can be heard on the heaths, commons and forestry plantations of England and Wales. They are very rare in Scotland.

Arctic tern

The arctic tern is the champion long-distance migrant, with birds that nest in northern Britain wintering in the far south of the Atlantic. Despite this lengthy migration, most will be back on their breeding grounds in early May. They are almost exclusively coastal nesting birds, but are regularly seen inland on migration.

Turtle dove

The gentle purring of the turtle dove was once a familiar sound of summer in southern England, but in recent years numbers have plummeted, so to hear one today is a notable event. Even when they were common it was rare to hear or see one before May Day.

Garden warbler

Many people confuse the song of the garden warbler with that of the blackcap: the former is most hurried and less flutey than that of the blackcap, but still delights the ear. And while the blackcap arrives here early - it’s often to be heard singing from late March - the garden warbler generally arrives much later, and is seldom back before the last week of April.

Hobby

This small falcon has increased as a breeding bird in southern England in recent decades, with the first birds arriving in the third week of April. Congregations of 40 or even 50 birds are quite usual in mid May at certain sites, such as the Somerset Levels, Lakenheath in Suffolk and Stodmarsh in Kent. After a few days they disperse to their breeding territories, where they are generally shy and secretive.