Page 30 - July2023

July 2023 July 2023

BERE REGIS WILDLIFE AND
ENVIRONMENT GROUP

Summer is really with us, or at least it was at the time of
writing – hot, sunny days a real change from our rather
cool and grey Spring. Our theme for this edition of the
Parish Magazine is things that fly!

House Martins

The house martins are back on West Street – have you seen them?
The house martin is a common summer visitor to
the UK, arriving in April and leaving in October. As
its name suggests, the house martin can be
spotted nesting in the eaves of houses and darting
back and forth catching flying insects and
retuning to the nests to feed their young. Their
nests are built from mud collected from damp
spots / river banks etc. the nest take days to build,
but to save effort the nests are often returned to
and used in following years.

The house martin is glossy black above,
completely white below, and has a white rump
and a short, forked tail (not to be mistaken for a
swallow, which has a much longer forked tail).

Red Kite

Another, but rather more unexpected, recent bird sighting on West Street was of
a red kite soaring low over the roof tops.
The red kite was once common, scavenging on
the rubbish strewn streets of medieval British towns.
However, persecution over the years saw its
numbers decline until there was just a small
number remaining in central Wales. A
reintroduction programme was started in Scotland
and England in 1989 and since there numbers
have increased markedly. They are now a
common sight in some parts of the country and
their range is ever-increasing. It is not uncommon
to see them in north Dorset and are now

30 51