BIRD: Wheatear

The Northern Wheatear (Oeananthe Oneanthe) is a relatively large, migrant bird in the UK and Ireland. As the summer weather finishes in September, they head back to Africa for the Winter, returning in March the following year. 

Often, it is just referred to simply as the Wheatear because the only other bird from this family seen in the UK (but extremely rarely) is the Isabelline Wheatear. 

These birds tend to be solitary and prefer moorland, heathland and open pasture, so are rarely spotted in gardens. We had a pile of field stones which were being drawn upon gradually to build dry-stone walls, and found a wheatear searching among the disturbed soil one evening.