GOING GREEN – July 2024
By Diana Barnett
Our Simple Acts Can Help Nature
THE older I get, the more amazed I am to discover the wonders of our natural world.
Swifts are one such species. They travel thousands of miles from their home in Equatorial Africa to reach the same nesting location in the UK each year. However, sometimes after flying 7,000 miles non-stop to reach their summer home, they find it’s no longer there as it has been demolished or blocked by the house owners. That is why the swift support group exists. We advise on a house’s suitability for having a swift nest box fitted and highlight the plight of these fantastic birds whose numbers are declining rapidly. This year, it is noticeable that there are not the numbers of swifts around the area as in previous years.
We received an email from someone who had found a baby swift but didn’t know how to care for it so we were glad to help. I replied with general advice on what to do and recommended taking it to the Oxfordshire Wild Life Rescue Centre. I certainly did not expect the reply I got next day from the worried person saying that they lived in Shiraz City in Iran and there were no wildlife groups there. They were feeding the young bird on mealworms and dry crickets but it wasn’t doing too well. We exchanged emails about how to look after the baby bird but, sadly, the young swift did not make it.
I did hear a happier story about a young swift. Late last summer, once the swifts had returned to Africa, Bob, who leads the Bisham bird box group, was asked to fit a camera in a previously occupied swift box. They took the box down from the eaves and placed it on a table when they heard a noise inside. Out of the small opening flew a young swift that obviously had been left behind when its parents left. Bob told me that the young birds often put on too much weight while in the nest so they are too fat to get out the opening. The young bird left by its parents loses weight rapidly and has to keep exercising its wings to practice flying inside the nest (swifts don’t fledge). When it is the right condition to leave, it exits through the gap, drops down, swoops up and starts its 7,000-mile flight to Africa.
I WOULD like to share something from our nature discovery day now that Great Big Green Week has disappeared for another year. This was the first time Greener Henley had organised a big nature event. We were very lucky to have several conservation groups’ stalls and some fantastic experts willing to lend their expertise. By all accounts the people who took part in the guided walks, bug hunts and pond dipping were very enthusiastic.
DO you remember seeing fireflies and glowworms at night? I’ve not seen any for a long time. According to BugLife that’s because, like many of our insects, they are “near threatened”, which means they may be pushed to extinction in the near future. Why? Degradation and loss of habitat, light pollution, climate change and chemical use in agriculture and gardening. Pollution intensifies the problems facing fireflies. Not only do pesticides kill them but also their food sources, slugs, snails and worms. Light pollution disrupts their natural behaviour and development. They have evolved to glow brightly against natural dark skies to attract a mate at night but light pollution confuses them and reduces their reproductive successes.
What can we do? Don’t use chemicals in our gardens, switch off unnecessary light at night, protect and restore glowworm habitats and record and report sightings. There are many simple acts we can do to help nature, so why not give it a go?