First bird of my day: a swift, flying over the Gibraltar Straits on its way to Africa. No big deal. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: hundreds of Black Kites about to cross the Straits of Gibraltar in what will be the first sighting of the sea some of them have ever had. Just a casually EPIC #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: swifts, some will be from England, feeding in Gibraltar before they cross the Straits into Africa. Goosebumps. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: Yellow legged gull. I know a fair few people who would go nuts about these gulls. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: SWIFTS IN GIBRALTAR AS SOON AS I LANDED because Environment Minister and swift brick legend @cortes_john told them to welcome me! #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: a wood pigeon flying right at my face in a way that woke me up much quicker than I had expected to wake up. Blasted into the day as I ducked. Beautiful pinkish underside though. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: the mewing Red Kites again, flying lower than the screaming swifts as the garden stays quiet with birds hiding as they moult. #firstbirdsofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: it’s unnervingly quiet today. I’ve spied a jackdaw kicking about looking as bemused as I do. Grey and overcast, bracing for the heat. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: House Martins. My goodness they are gorgeous birds. I’m looking at their chicks who are peeping out of their mud nests on the village hall while their parents fly with their soft twitters above. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: the gentle cooing of a wood pigeon somewhere out of sight. My eyes stare at the rain. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: swifts, screaming oh so high as they fly oh so low over and between the roof tops. Swoon. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: pigeon just walking doing its thing. No one else around. Probably really bloody nice for it. And then I come along. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: motoring sparrows whirring from a rose bush back to base camp. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: red kite, whistling just above my head. Featherlight yet looming. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: swifts. Once more I get a chance to take them for granted as they wake me up with their screams but as July ticks on, I know they won’t be here for long. #FirstBirdOfMyDay #WhatsYours

First bird of my day: Swifts! Swifts! Wake up everyone and look outside. Listen for their screams. The screaming parties are happening right now and then they’ll be gone, flinging themselves across the Sahara, spinning to African rainforests. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: chirping sparrows flitting in and out of the bath while I call for Crow to give him breakfast. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: as the hum of combines harvesting carries on into the morning, I can see a bunch of fledgling sparrows taking it in turns at the crow’s paddling pool bath. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: wood pigeons - all the wood pigeons in all the land, pottering about dangerously on the roads that, fortunately, were empty except for me. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: robin fledgling just mincing around on the roof shed which is the crow’s domain. And the fledgling’s who has worked out it can get food from me. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: FAVOURITE BIRD - swifts. Screaming. Soon they’ll be gone. At this time of year I am so used to them and then the melancholy starts. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: red kite mewing so loudly over the house that it woke me up. That’s pretty cool isn’t it. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: a jackdaw wiping its beak on some moss on the roof. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: my garden is now a bird crèche. All next to each other on different branches with the same babyish expression were a fledgling robin, blackbird, dunnock and wood pigeon. Dreamy. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: the star-shape of a starling flying overhead catching the light. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: a whirrrrr of sparrows in the village field, half made of sunlight, the other half, chirps. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

First bird of my day: wood pigeons sashaying on the road while swifts scream overhead. Now Greenfinches are slurring in the wood and skylarks are singing high up in the golden dawn. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

Here the seaside streets are echoing with the gull choir . A wood pigeon has decided to add a note or two #firstbirdofmyday

Currawongs whistling and calling to each other before daylight. Their presence is felt before they are seen flying in the fog and down across the gully. #firstbirdofmyday #whatsyours

A very noisy magpie outside my bedroom window at 4.30am. #firstbirdofmyday