Whitethroat

Here are a couple of photographs of a Common Whitethroat, Curruca communis, which I took last summer.

It’s a chunky warbler with a distinctive white throat. They’re called the Common Whitethroat, although you may never have seen one, and there are something like 1.1 million breeding territories in the UK. And now, at this time of year? There are none here; they’re all south of the Sahara living their lives to the full, gorging themselves on insects and packing on the fractions of an ounce in preparation for the great migration back here.

When people talk about British Birds, or birds being British, I find it an embarrassing bit of nonsense. Many spend only part of their lives here and pass through many countries in their short lives. We are simply custodians of their territory. If one of us fails to look after our bit of their land properly, we all suffer.

I’m looking forward to seeing them again.