COUNTRY MATTERS
Swallows felled by Greek winds Joe Kennedy
SIGHTINGS of swallows in west Cork and south Kerry were noted last week by regular readers to whom thanks are due. The Cork birds were seen on April 7, about a week later than last year; the Kerry migrants on April 9. The reader from Brandon, casting in the Atlantic surf for a tasty flounder, had also noticed a brilliant peacock butterfly at the flowering white blossoms of the “thorn of the plum kind”, as William Cobbett called the blackthorn, the plant of feisty womankind.
The returned Irish birds have been lucky as storms have caused havoc among flocks crossing from Africa to northern Europe. Strong winds across Greece have killed thousands of swallows on their annual migration.
Birds have been found dead on the streets of Athens, on apartment balconies and in the north of the country, on islands in the Aegean and in the Peloponnese, the French news service AFP reported. A wildlife charity described it as “a major disaster”. Strong winds pushed flocks into air currents from north of the Aegean and exhausted birds headed for the Greek mainland. Greece is on the flight-path for thousands of migrants.
The Cork reader, from Dunmanway, also told of an amusing observation of the antics of a starling and one of a large number of sparrows which nest in farm buildings. Each bird was intent on plundering the other’s nest for building materials, stealing vegetation and feathers. There was no outward aggression but, as the reader pointed out, at the end of the day there were no victors with strands of debris scattered on the ground. I have seen such posturing with these species and between grey crows and ravens, never coming to blows. Both the sparrows and starlings vie for similar roof spaces and nooks and crannies especially in older dwelling houses where food sources are near at hand.
Garden confinement has given householders more time to watch the movements of flying visitors of many shapes and colours, from common blue butterflies and bumblebees along with a goldcrest surprise, and chaffinches, and regular blackbirds and plodding wood pigeons poking beneath the shrubbery. Magpies are fewer, which is a blessing; I have seen juvenile blackbirds meet unhappy ends despite best efforts of human intervention. Magpies will source and stalk thrush and blackbird nests for plunder, which is their nature. They will also taunt and harass domestic cats and grey squirrels they see as challenges in their hunting pursuits.
I have had a pleasant letter from a Wicklow reader, in bold fountain-pen hand, who was pleased with the recent piece on that curious wild animal, the pangolin, and its suspected role, through the activities of poachers, in the chain of events which led to the emergence of Covid-19 in China.
This reader echoes a message to us all at this time: ‘Respect Planet Earth’.
Circumstances have made time for more garden care including digging out a modest pond space, filling it with water and waiting for suitable plants to attract aquatic life. Already, the evenings have brought hatches of insects. Visiting birds will be pleased.