The birds had declared autumn started and upped there wings and headed back to Europe.
Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward
So that set me thinking about my youth. In early April the sky would darken ... the sun blocked by tens of thousands of European swallows heading home. The process repeated in September in the opposite direction. Their numbers have dwindled but the migrations continue, decades later.
British swallows spend their winter in South Africa - they travel through western France, across the Pyrenees, down eastern Spain into Morocco and across the Sahara. Some birds follow the west coast of Africa avoiding the Sahara. Other European swallows travel further east and down the Nile Valley. Swallows put on little weight before migrating.
They migrate by day at low altitudes and find food on the way. Despite accumulating some fat reserves before crossing large areas such as the Sahara Desert, they are vulnerable to starvation during these crossings. Migration is a hazardous time and many birds die from starvation, exhaustion and in storms.
Migrating swallows cover 200 miles a day, mainly during daylight, at speeds of 17-22 miles per hour. The maximum flight speed is 35 mph.
Swallows arrive in the UK in April and May, returning to their wintering grounds in September and October
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the tune. I remember it most from the sound track to War of the Worlds.
