It is September and the swallows have left us now to fly south

01.09.2010
September is the month for the preparation of autumn. Within the first days of September, our family of house martins, mum, dad and their three youngs, left Sagadi. Before leaving to south, the martins felt strong wind and storms that broke large trees and did other damage in the area.

Our nature guide Peeter Hussar explained that before the big storm martins force themselves in a lethargic state to survive the big storm. Their organism has a so-called „savings regime” to survive the harsh times, as the insects they consume have also hidden from the wind and rain.

Martins tend to feed their youngs a bit more than they should, and sometimes it happens that when it is time to fly south the youngs have no strength to fly. Then the old birds starve their youngs for a couple of days to get them back in shape, and the youngs will have to fly with half-empty stomachs and find food for themselves.

The martins have left us now to gather in bigger groups and fly to Egypt. Since they have left their nest, we can remove the support that protects the walls and make it wait for the next spring.

Foto: Meeli Küttim


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