Songbird wild long-haul trip

One ounce songbirds are mustering across hills and fields for one of the most incredible journeys in nature.

- STUART WINTER

Donald Trump may think Greenland is just a “big, beautiful piece of ice” but for intrepid northern wheatears it is a do-or-die summer destination.

Throughout May, small numbers of the Greenland race of the northern wheatear - a brighter, bulkier relative of our native breeding species - pass through Britain before venturing out into the forbidding waters of the North Atlantic.

In the face of prevailing winds, the birds battle for 30 hours before touching down in Iceland.