Bats and Swallows

 


Homely twitterings amongst the village chimney pots, chirping from overhead wires in between darting dives at unsuspecting insect prey cruising Winsley’s wildlife garden corridors. They had feasted on houseflies, horseflies, gnats, aphids, flying ants, weevils and moths and butterflies when they are abundant, also damselflies and grasshoppers, and dung beetles in fields of horses and cows .... A single swallow can consume hundreds of insects daily – natural pest controllers!



 Their beaks differ from those of seed-crunching birds, such as goldfinches and chaffinches. Swallows have a delicate pointed beak to seize insects in flight.



Then as autumn cool closed in... the swallows flew.. where?


Winsley’s sky acrobats are now swooping and soaring, catching insects on the wing as they journey along their ancient corridors. Swallow itinerary: 6,000 miles, 6 weeks flying by day before arriving in South Africa and Namibia in December. First, south to cross the English Channel.



Last British snack-stop, here on islands in the Channel: the Scillies, 23 miles from mainland Cornwall The bad gales of 14-16th September made coastal kick-off points grim for swallows about to start the big journey.. After the gale swallows flew and foraged (one above tall post). Transient patches of sunlight brought ants, gnats and midges out of hedgerow shelter; grazing cows provided swallows with fly food  in cowpats.



Wildlife Gardening Tips: Plant sheltering leafy cover for insects particularly the really obscure tiny insects 




In a mini meadow, wild carrot, cow parsley, etc = flat multiple flower heads with easily accessible nectar for many fly species 


Leave some unmown wilder areas of grass as well for insect cover and food.

Now is the time to sow meadow seeds and plant spring bulbs to feed insects – flamboyant greats and microscopically small!




The wild seas fed them too. Beaches carpeted with a diversity of coloured seaweed produced hundreds of flies and sandhoppers 




Then the morning of best flight conditions arrived... on to western France... the swallows left British shores in the direction of the setting sun -


Fingers crossed some of our swallows return to their summer homes in Winsley’s Wildlife Corridors.



Photo credits: 2 Peter Scourse, 1, 3-15 Nicolette Scourse

!! Less than a fortnight to !!


.


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