Have you spotted some beautiful silhouettes darting and diving in the summer sky? Swifts, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins are all summer visitors to both the UK and Poland, and areas between. A common heritage. Here are some ID tips from wildlifetrusts.org (another here). Don't take it for granted, the heritage is finite and not for squandering. Although widespread globally, various species of the Hirundinidae are threatened due to habitat loss.
In case you were wondering...
Swallow: Dymówka/jaskółka dymówka Hirundo rustica
Swift: Jerzyk zwyczajny Apus apus
House Martin: Oknówka zwyczajna/ jaskółka oknówka Delichon urbicum
Sand Martin: Brzegówka zwyczajna/jaskółka brzegówka Riparia riparia
Swift Awareness week 3rd-11th July 2021.
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2 comments:
In UK there was a worrying fall in the number of Swifts last year but this year they seem to be very plentiful. Given the right conditions, they can sometimes bounce back.
That's the difference between ornithology and artefact hunting I guess. An ornothologist does no harm whereas Artefacts reduce in number inexorably, without any possibility of a bounce, every single time a fresh one is grabbed. You sometimes hear ornithologists say numbers are down, never that "I've hammered the field".
but of course in both cases, the occurrence of both archaeological material and swifts is being constantly eroded by habitat changes. The archaeological resource of Europe is being nibbled away by various factors (development, climate change among them) and artefact hunting is placing an additional strain on it.
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