brianbaggott
New member
Hello
I am Brian and I live in darkest Dorset and would like to share some observations with you to see if anyone else has similar tales
I have watched the swallows and martins for many years around our cottage in darkest Dorset and I have noticed a pattern for departure days for both species. The swallows often have a third brood in august and during this time lots of youngsters sit in regimented lines on our overhead electricty cable. There seems to be many tens of these fledged youngsters lining up and chatting and then the skies become bare again with only the larger parent birds sweeping over the meadow and stables. It is as though mums and dads of the young tell them to start early and avoid the possibility of running into late summer storms. Has anyone else witnessed this?
We had for many years three swifts that enjoyed a wooden roost I errected under the eaves but it has been two summers since we saw them so that is sad. We have a small pond with a small cascade and it has been a joy to watch the Wagtails, many warbers including some aggressive Dartford Warblers enjoing a soak in the shallow pool at the top of the cascade. It has been an amazing summer and we witnesed a family of Goldcrests raise 4 offspring. Sadly last week a very large Flamingo Maple tree which my wife and I brought with us from Hampshire 31 years ago was ripped up like a paper sack and scattered across three areas of lawn and meadow. Sitting looking at all our little friends in sitting on the meadow fence and wondering where their tree has gone is so sad. This act of nature vandalism only lasted for 6 minutes and the vortex of this typhoon passed through our garden and made its exit between two sturdy old oak trees and 3 minutes later the sun was out. Is this our new norm I wonder-
Brian
I am Brian and I live in darkest Dorset and would like to share some observations with you to see if anyone else has similar tales
I have watched the swallows and martins for many years around our cottage in darkest Dorset and I have noticed a pattern for departure days for both species. The swallows often have a third brood in august and during this time lots of youngsters sit in regimented lines on our overhead electricty cable. There seems to be many tens of these fledged youngsters lining up and chatting and then the skies become bare again with only the larger parent birds sweeping over the meadow and stables. It is as though mums and dads of the young tell them to start early and avoid the possibility of running into late summer storms. Has anyone else witnessed this?
We had for many years three swifts that enjoyed a wooden roost I errected under the eaves but it has been two summers since we saw them so that is sad. We have a small pond with a small cascade and it has been a joy to watch the Wagtails, many warbers including some aggressive Dartford Warblers enjoing a soak in the shallow pool at the top of the cascade. It has been an amazing summer and we witnesed a family of Goldcrests raise 4 offspring. Sadly last week a very large Flamingo Maple tree which my wife and I brought with us from Hampshire 31 years ago was ripped up like a paper sack and scattered across three areas of lawn and meadow. Sitting looking at all our little friends in sitting on the meadow fence and wondering where their tree has gone is so sad. This act of nature vandalism only lasted for 6 minutes and the vortex of this typhoon passed through our garden and made its exit between two sturdy old oak trees and 3 minutes later the sun was out. Is this our new norm I wonder-
Brian
