Search This Blog

Showing posts with label barn swallow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barn swallow. Show all posts

Friday 7 April 2017

Swallows return

Today we spotted our first swallow (bird) this year flying N-S over the allotments behind Burwell Museum at breakfast time this morning. In a few weeks they will be common!

April 7th is one of the earliest times I have seen these up here, although there have been reports in Devon a few weeks ago. There were days when I thought I would never live to see this day. The cycle of life goes on.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/swallow/

Sunday 5 April 2015

Swallows in Cambridgeshire

The Cambridge Bird Club "What's About" page is now reporting swallows locally again.

Usually I see swallows in Devon in the first week of April, but it is often mid-April until I see them around up here. I guess if you look hard you will see the odd one or two earlier.

The image on the RHS is on the RSPB site and not here. It will be immediately removed if causing copyright or other issues.

See http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/swallow/

Saturday 4 April 2015

Returning swallows

The Devon Wildlife website is now reporting the return of lots of swallows. This is good news. Spring returns!

Thursday 11 September 2014

Late swallows and house martins

Earlier this week I sat next to the Mere in Knutsford. Cheshire. Several swallows and house martins were seen. Most swifts have now gone south, but it was good to see so many swallows and house martins still around. There was even a nest with 3 young martins in at Little Morton Hall.

In past years I have seen house martins in the South Hams (Devon) as late as the end of October. One year there were still swallows near Salcombe, Devon as late as Dec 7th. Not living in the South Hams, I don't know how common this is i.e. this late. The return of house martins, swallows and swifts is something I welcome each year but sadly at this time of year we bid these migratory birds farewell before they fly thousands of hostile miles to lands with more plentiful insect food. With the Sahara getting bigger their migration routes are getting more and more hazardous. There seem fewer of these birds than there used to be, presumably as more die on migration.

Fare thee well little friends and see you again next spring when the cycle of life goes on, I pray. The return of these little fellows between early April to early May fills me with renewed hope and joy. I tend to have tears in my eyes when the swifts return. I pray I'll be around to see these return in the spring.
http://thesteepletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Henry-Williamson-450.jpg
Since my stroke a year ago, these simple affirmations of the continuance of the cycle of life mean even more. I guess I am more aware of how finite our lives are.  Somehow I think Henry Williamson was right about the cycle of life.

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Swifts, swallows and martins

Swallow (sometimes called Barn Swallow)
For me, spring never properly arrives until these have arrived on UK shores. Sand martins are already being seen in  Devon (first arrivals in March) but swallows are rarely here much before early April,  usually about April 10th in East Anglia. Usually I get to Devon at this time of the year just as the swallows arrive from S.Africa. This year, because of my poor health,  I shall have to give this a miss.

Swifts are rarely here before the end of the month of April. Once here, swifts seem to be everywhere! I love to hear their screams on the wing. To me, the swift is a real summer bird and a sign that "all is well with the world" when they arrive.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_Swallow

Numbers of house martins have been down in recent years.