Off to Africa

The swallows are gathering on the power lines, preening and chattering and giving every sign that they're readying for the long flight south. Many of the house and sand martins seem to have left already.

I write the same post each year - last year's was on 5th September, here - and each time I feel a pang of envy. In a week or so, these tiny birds will be crossing the Sahara and working their way ever further south, into the savannas of Africa and on to southern Africa, a journey of six weeks. There, all being well, the insects will be a little more prolific than they've been here this summer.