One swallow doesn’t make a summer, so the saying goes. But it does mean that spring is here, and when you read this you might even have seen the first swallows arriving in Britain on the end of a long journey from their wintering grounds in southern Africa.
Swallows do not appear to be very strong or direct fliers (see Proverbs 26:2 for a Biblical observation on this), so their long-distance migration is a remarkable feat of endurance.
Another extraordinary migration was only discovered a few years ago. It was thought that the red-necked phalarope, a small wading bird which nests in Shetland, spent its winters in the Arabian Sea. Impressive enough, you may think. However, thanks to tiny geolocators attached to some birds, scientists discovered it went in completely the opposite direction and made an epic 16,000-mile return trip to the Pacific off the coast of Peru. The phalarope’s story even inspired a musical ballad performed by children from London and Peru at the Royal Albert Hall.
