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Environmentalist Kerry Leonard writes the next in his series of exclusive wildlife reports for Breathing Places.

One Swallow doesn't make a winter

In December I was lucky enough to visit Kenya and participate in a bird ringing project in Tsavo National Park. The main aim of this annual project is to catch migrant birds from central and eastern Europe, and Asia, which are spending the winter in Africa. One of the bird species we were catching were Swallows. These swallows are mainly from eastern countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan but it is perfectly possible that some of ‘our’ swallows pass through Kenya on their way further south to their winter quarters.

Ringing recoveries have shown that western European swallows mainly winter in southern Africa, where millions of birds congregate in vast roosts. Indeed birds ringed in Northern Ireland have been trapped again in South Africa. These swallows travel many thousands of miles each year. Their journey may seem extreme but birds like swallows could never survive harsh winters like the one we are experiencing now as there is simply no food available to them.

Many migrant birds like swallows also moult their feathers in Africa, something we never see in the UK. Interestingly both adult and young birds were at a similar stage, having moulted a few wing feathers already but waiting until they had reached their final destination before completing their moult.

It was a real pleasure to see some of the birds we take for granted as ‘ours’ during the other half of their year, although somewhat it was somewhat surreal to seeing swallows flying around Elephants! So when the first Swallows reappear in early April take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary journey they have just undertaken.