Delabole Slate June 2021

Termyn Gwari Fleghes
(children’s playtime, in Cornish)
All these birds are summer visitors, which means that they spend our winter
somewhere else much warmer, then migrate back to us when spring arrives
and the weather starts to warm up.
The three birds on the top row are swift, swallow and house martin. They
are very fast, agile fliers, swooping around houses and fields catching small
insects. Swifts nest under eaves and are quite rare, we are lucky in Delabole
that there are still buildings they can nest in. You can buy swift nest boxes
if your home has no suitable places. Swallows and house martins build their
nests out of mud, in sheds, by windows and under eaves. If you are lucky
enough to have them, enjoy watching them nest and hatch their young. The
second row of birds are also insect eaters but don’t come near people. They
are cuckoo, blackcap and willow warbler. You are much more likely to hear
these than see them – the cuckoo because it is now very rare, so you may
be fortunate to hear it down in the woods or up on the moors. The blackcap
and willow warbler are both quite small, about the size of a robin, and shy,
but they both have very loud songs which you can hear if you walk around
the quarry. The cuckoo doesn’t make a nest but will lay its eggs in the nests
of blackcap, willow warbler and other small birds.
Give yourself a point if you hear any of these birds, and 2 points if you see
them! Remember if you know where a nest is, leave it alone, watch from a
distance if you want to and make sure not to frighten the parents away.
Don’t pick up fledglings on the ground - they are learning to look after
themselves.