One Swallow...Saturday 4th April 2020
Living so close to Sandy Water Park makes for an easy "permitted exercise" walk.
This morning in cool overcast conditions I walked the mile or so around the lake with less than a dozen people seen let alone passed.
Waterfowl are making their way back north to breed so it is this that may have increased the count of Tufted Duck up to 13 from 8 yesterday and Pochard, a duck in decline, up from one to two this morning.
Small numbers but when logic is applied to what is going on in the natural world it makes sense to notice the small things.
Just as I approached the end of the walk a small flock of Sand Martins arrived, careful viewing located a lone Swallow always a pleasure to see the first one, I expect that with the wind turning more southerly this will provide a boost to arriving migrants.
Swallows have been the source of some odd myths one from the 16th century tries to explain where they disappear too each autumn. Archbishop Olaus Magnus of Uppsala theorised that they spent the winter at the bottom of lakes and ponds as depicted in this wood block carving.
Fortunately we now know so much more about these trans-Saharan migrants
This morning in cool overcast conditions I walked the mile or so around the lake with less than a dozen people seen let alone passed.
Waterfowl are making their way back north to breed so it is this that may have increased the count of Tufted Duck up to 13 from 8 yesterday and Pochard, a duck in decline, up from one to two this morning.
Small numbers but when logic is applied to what is going on in the natural world it makes sense to notice the small things.
Just as I approached the end of the walk a small flock of Sand Martins arrived, careful viewing located a lone Swallow always a pleasure to see the first one, I expect that with the wind turning more southerly this will provide a boost to arriving migrants.
Swallows have been the source of some odd myths one from the 16th century tries to explain where they disappear too each autumn. Archbishop Olaus Magnus of Uppsala theorised that they spent the winter at the bottom of lakes and ponds as depicted in this wood block carving.
Fortunately we now know so much more about these trans-Saharan migrants
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