JUST back in Cornwall from a week away and you can see spring has truly sprung. Driving down the motorway, it’s clear there is a distinct green tinge to the trees now as the new leaves make their first tentative appearances.

For me, the sighting of the first swallow always heralds spring and summer.

However, there’s not much sign of them as yet at home but swallows, housemartins and sandmartins have been seen over the past few days in Cornwall, but not in great numbers. They are probably all loitering about in the French vineyards, eking out another day or two before the slog north.

A few of the other summer migrants have been seen - blackcap, chiffchaff and willow warblers are braving the chilly nights to get started on the serious business of nesting and breeding.

I was up on the moor recently and saw my first summer visitor, the wheatear. They are one of the earlier migrants from Africa. Some birds do a direct flight from northern Spain to the summer grounds, making it one of the longest migrations for a song bird.

They are about as big as a robin and have a distinctive white rump with a black T on the tail. In fact, the name is thought to come from white (wheat) and ear (ahem... rump, as it were, in common parlance), so nothing to do with wheat at all.

So, there’s a great movement of birds ongoing and in the field in front of our house, lambs are appearing that weren’t there yesterday, all adding to the feeling that winter has finally gone. I’m ready, planting the garden and I have my slug and snail traps on standby so I don’t get decimated like last year!