NOW is the time of the young birds. They are everywhere; in bushes and long grass, in trees and marshy margins, their plaintive contact calls replacing the courting chorus of the adults in spring.

These calls are important as it enables parent birds to pinpoint where their fledged young are hiding amongst the luxuriant summer growth.

Young robins are particularly noticeable by their incessant peeping. But trying to see one is a different proposition as their mottled, cryptic, brown plumage blends in so well with the environment.

Only last week by the banks of the River Devon I stumbled upon a young family of blackcaps. They were a picture of secrecy, flitting only momentarily into view before disappearing again into the darkness of the thick undergrowth.

Young blackbirds are much more conspicuous and will often sit in the middle of the garden lawn, happy for all to see.

Short-tailed and dumpy, they can only make short flights after having immediately left the nest.

They need to watch out for marauding crows though, for they are an ever-present threat.

Over the next few weeks, there is every chance of hearing young buzzards after they have taken to the wing for the first time.

Their call is just like that of a mewing seagull and is dreadfully monotonous.

Swifts are late starters when it comes to breeding and only last week I saw a pair prospecting a nesting crevice under the eaves of a neighbour’s house.

But they will now get down to breeding quickly and by the middle of August they will be gone, having departed south for warmer climes.