Migration-monitoring sites in Britain logged unusually high numbers of migrating Tree Pipits in August.

Tree Pipit breeds in Britain after arriving in April. Birds return south in August and September, bound for wintering grounds in central and southern Africa. As a diurnal migrant, birds in active migration are easily recorded by observers familiar with its ‘buzzing’ flight call.

Numbers of Tree Pipits logged on the migration recording website Trektellen reached 2,644 individuals across nearly 4,000 combined hours of observation at 36 sites this August. The hourly passage rate for autumn 2024 is already at 0.32 birds per hour, making it the best Trektellen season on record for the species, with some weeks of passage yet to come.