Countryside Rangers Diary
May
What a busy month in the countryside.
The leaves on the trees are unfolding showing a bright translucent green, they attract hungry insects while dandelion clock heads are being torn apart by linnets and goldfinches for their seeds. Fledglings of early nesters are trying out their new flight feathers while the bright yellow of the Celandines starts to fade. The magical May blossom begins to show.
The beginning of May brings the swifts back home to nest. They are one of the later migrating birds to arrive, the Swallows have been here for several weeks now (the first spotted on the park was on the 23rd April, a week or so later than expected).
Swifts fill the air with a wild screaming call; it is a marvellous shrill sound that is difficult to mistake for any other bird. They can be seen flying over much of the parkland-snatching insects from the air. They look black as they dash past at high speed. The most distinctive feature is the long, sickle-shaped wings, which beat fast between long glides. Once they arrive they waste little time in breeding and by the end of the month most pairs will have two or three white eggs to sit on.
Snipe are birds which prove difficult to spot on the ground. They like rough wet grassland habitat and can be found in several areas of the park, their mottled brown plumage makes them very well camouflaged.
The best way to find them is to listen for their territorial drumming, most often heard at this time of year as they fly high over boggy ground in upland areas. The strange reverberating, beating sound is created by air rushing over their tail feathers. The sound is often the first hint that snipe are about.
Rookeries are very noisy this month. There is a small rookery in the trees beside the Children’s Village. The fledglings stand up in their nests, exercising their wings, while the busy parents rush back and forth with food. It is best to watch the squabbles from the edge rather than underneath, unless you have a brolly!
Along the river bank... Three very distinctive insects have hatched this month from aquatic larvae.
Mayflies… these fold their wings vertically over their backs, may of these become food for leaping trout.
Alderflies… these fold their smoky wings like a tent over their bodies they flutter over the water surface.
Stoneflies… these fold their wings flat over their backs, hatching stoneflies are a sign of clean water, and they are the first to vanish when a river becomes polluted.
Pop along to Margam Country Park and enjoy the month of May