Brin Best

Wharfedale Naturalists’ Society

wharfedale-nats.org.uk

AS I WRITE these Nature Notes the last of the swallows and martins are wheeling around above our garden on the western edge of Otley.

They are readying themselves for a very long journey that will take them south of the Sahara desert to their African wintering grounds. And then, miraculously, back here next spring to the very same barns and outbuildings where they nested this year.

Our part of Wharfedale seems to be a congregating point for swallows, house martins and sand martins which have nested further north. We always see hundreds gathering on wires during late August and early September.

The lakes, rivers and rich agricultural land around Otley are ideal foraging areas for these small birds, which must build up fat reserves to survive the incredible journey which awaits them.

It’s an incredible thought that the same swallows which spent much of the summer in our neighbourhood could be chasing insects around exotic beasts such as elephants and giraffes, while we’re tucking into our Christmas dinner.

I suspect that many of swallows and martins which gather locally at this time of year have bred within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Others are likely to have come from further north, from Scotland perhaps or even further afield. Future migration studies might unravel theses mysteries.

Soon the last of the insect-eating birds will evaporate, to be replaced with berry-eating visitors from foreign lands which will soon be cloaked in snow. These are the redwings and fieldfares - the winter thrushes - which see Yorkshire as their refuge from an icy death amid frozen forests.

If you head out on clear nights over the next few weeks you may even hear the arrival of redwings. They give a short, high-pitched flight call in order to communicate with other members of the migrating flock.

Autumn is a time a great change in our countryside, as well as expansive movements. Nutritious berries, which festoon hedges and gardens, provide a lifeline for birds which have undertaken perilous journeys to Yorkshire.

One of the great thrills of the season is to chance across a busy flock of newly-arrived thrushes gorging themselves in a hawthorn hedge. Birds that spent the summer peering at elk, or avoiding a marauding lynx, are now eyeing you as you shuffle through the leaves on your way to the paper shop.