It's wonderful to see so many birds flourishing at the farm.
This article, by young Community Farmer and fledgling ornithologist, Mya-Rose Craig, tracks the progress of our swallows:>
This autumn, as we said farewell to the last of our swallows lined up on telephone wires, before heading south to Africa, we remembered their young.
In the spring, two birdwatchers from Chew Valley Ringing Station approached The Community Farm. The ringing station is set on the shore of Chew Valley Lake at Herriot’s Bridge. It is where local birdwatchers catch birds in nets, examine them, taking measurements and recording details, before placing a metal ring on one leg and letting them go. The whole process takes only a couple of minutes and the birds’ welfare is always priority.
The ringing station approached The Community Farm because, as well as catching birds in nets, they wanted to ring baby swallows. With the agreement of The Farm, the first step was to bring ladders to the barns to check swallow nests for recent inhabitation. Once these nests were identified, the birdwatchers returned regularly to check how the nests were developing with eggs and then chicks. There was unfortunately one nest that looked occupied but actually had a dead bird sitting inside. The death was likely to have been caused by illness. The chicks have to be ringed at the right time, when they are big enough but still not able to fly (for obviously reasons!).
Several nests had chicks and they were able to ring these, which will provide vital information for research. With luck next year will be an even better year for swallows at the farm.
Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl, Aged 12
Young Ornithologist, Writer and Blogger
Click here to read Mya's blog
