August and September are the peak months for return migration and 2026 has been fairly typical overall so far. There have been many more Wheatear that in the last few years (the most so far since 2021) , but seemingly fewer hirundines than in 2025 although Steve Gale reported 950 House Martins and 120 Swallows passing through the farm one day recently. The lack of feeding flocks of hirundines may reflect a lack of flying insects over the farm due to the Summer drought and heatwave.
There have been several records of Lesser Whitethroat, a fair number of Willow Warblers. Only one Spotted Flycatcher and two Redstarts are sadly now a typical number. Good numbers of Hobbies have been reported which may have included a locally breeding pair with more recent records likely to be migrants. Autumn migration is far from over as birds will continue to pass through into October with more unusual species possible.
