Nature Notes
In a change of schedule, we must restart after the summer break with Alan, who has kindly put together some great notes on two recent visitors to his home. As always, there are excellent photographs. Alan first wrote about the Swallows in 2023, and here is a welcome update.
Also, there is a nearly drowned Bat!
Image of Swallows in 2023: Photo Alan Smith
Image of Swallows in 2024: Photo Alan Smith
The Return of the Long-Distant Migrants
2025
On April 27th this year, we welcomed back the Swallows that have frequented the nest site over the past few years. Almost immediately, they started the task of refurbishment to the well-worn site from last year, with nesting material in abundance. This included mud gathered from the shoreline and made into pellets with their own saliva acting as glue, and a little dried grass and feathers as a liner. They soon had things looking shipshape and ready for the start of egg laying.
Four eggs were duly laid and with the nest being close to the back door we once again registered it out of bounds as much as possible, the slightest touch of the door handle and she would take flight.
With careful observation whilst not sitting on the nest, I checked and could detect four eggs. Two weeks later, and they were flying back and forth feeding young ones, on a rich diet of insects, it was not long before fledging, all had survived.
All was quiet for a few days and I then noticed that the nest was undergoing more restoration work after being battered by boisterous young ones, eventually the female (always the female that broods) settled down and laid a second brood, once again I stealthily checked some days later to discover that five eggs had been laid and a little later all had been hatched
The convoy of insect delivery had now racked up a pace with five hungry youngsters all clambering for more. It wasn’t long before five little faces were appearing over the rim of the nest.
What a wonderful sight when parents came in to feed, and all were holding beaks wide open with the yellow gape showing.
With the passing of a week or two, the nest was full to the limit with the increasing size of the youngsters, the smallest of the siblings being pushed to the back but always managing to get some food (approx 6000 flies a day required for a brood this size).
The good news is that they all survived and fledged, nine new swallows from one nest is quite remarkable. More remarkably, knowing that in a few weeks, they will all be setting off on a six-week marathon to South Africa.
With a life span of two to five years, are they fledged birds returning to the nest site? This is where leg ring identification becomes another interesting aspect.
A Nearly Drowned Bat
Observe the tiny foot in the foreground
Starting to water the garden recently, I noticed something trying to swim around in the water butt. I was more than surprised to find that it was a Pipistrelle Bat. I rescued it from its watery domain and placed it in the sun, alternating between the hot sun and shade.
The poor thing was trembling or shivering. Thinking about the bat’s time-line whereby they appear at dusk and return to roost before dawn, and I was at the water butt at 16.00 hrs, the bat could have been in the water for anything between seven to eight hours or even longer. Therefore, I put the trembling/shivering scenario down to hyperthermia. Eventually, the shivering stopped, and its fur began to dry out, and it started to preen itself and move about. You could then see that its eyes had emerged from the wet fur.
Notice the small, open eye.
With preening, it was looking quite respectful and once again resembling a Pipistrelle.
Eventually, it flew off and crawled under a large, heavy slate on an outbuilding.
Watching the bats (3) later in the evening, I was hoping that the one that escaped a watery grave was flying with them.
Please observe if you can the tiniest of foot in the first shot.
Next time, we have the first of two articles based on messages from our correspondents.