It is now late February and the year is most definitely on the turn, with the first stirrings of a new spring and the awakening of life in the wild as the days lengthen.

Any bad weather is now likely to be no more than a brief hiccup as the sun strengthens and, with it, the promise of new beginnings and new arrivals.

Although our winter visitors — great grey shrikes, short eared owls, fieldfares, redwings and possibly a few of this winter’s many waxwings — may linger with us a while, the early warning stations such as Portland and Dungeness observatories and the migration watchers at Hengistbury Head and Durlston, along the south coast, are already starting to log their first noticeable arrivals, after migrating birds have made their monumental journey from their wintering grounds, often as far away as Africa.

Some of this change will be difficult to appreciate as early arrivals such as pied wagtails, meadow pipits and stonechats will actually be replacing their cousins who dropped south for the winter from our upland regions and are now moving back north.

However, chiffchaffs will begin to trickle in and their incessant ‘chiff chaff, chiff chaff’ song will be making itself evident on our birding trips.

As February gives way to March, the first wheatears will cross the coast and, with the promise of an early willow warbler or sand sartin, the pace begins to hot up.

Oxfordshire is blessed with several sites to see these new arrivals as they pause to rest and refuel on their urgent journey to their summer breeding grounds. The downs around Churn, and Otmoor for example. And, even though it often throngs with people, Port Meadow has become a real hotspot due to increased watching by skilled local birders.

This is the time to visit Farmoor. Check the steep grassy banks forwheatears, the bushes at the west end for warblers and the skies above for sand martins.

Make the most of this magical period for, all too soon, spring proper will be here and the wheel of life begins another turn.