Our only summer migrant ducks, garganeys arrive this month in twos, having paired up on wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sightings of this small species (between teal and mallard in size) are unpredictable, but search quiet lakes in the south and east of England for handsome drakes – identified by white eye-stripes – and their muted mates. Some are en route to breeding grounds in north and east Europe; a tiny population of fewer than 100 pairs stays to nest in the UK.