Long time no blog from me. I have been gallivanting along the East Coast of England again. I will bring you up to date with all the awesome birding I have done in my next (and 70th blog).
As a surprise I have a guest blog for you this week by Dr Rhys Jones.
Dr Rhys Jones has been appearing on national BBC recently in the excellent series Dr Rhys Jones Wildlife Patrol, he also co-hosted BBC Wales coverage of the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells.
We had spent the day travelling around the Mara, the highlights being a young Martial eagle, its chest gleaming white in the afternoon sun perched at the top of a lone Balanites tree, a Liliac-breasted Roller surprisingly hunting insects among a flock of wheeling swifts and a group of spectacular African green pigeons feasting on figs.
With the light beginning to fade, I decided to call it a day and headed back to camp in goodtime for nightfall. Grabbing a boiling pot from the open fire I poured myself a mug of strong white tea and walked until I could feel the last rays of sun on my face. As I looked out across the golden grass plain a small dark smoke-like chain lifted high in the air and swayed in the breeze. The wisp rose ever higher until it caught a passing air current doubling its speed as it passed overhead. I followed the trail back to its origin between a Thorn apple and a flowering Amaranthus, seemingly from deep underground. Lifting my binoculars to the sky I was surprised to see not smoke but hundreds of small flying insects. Winged common fungus-growing termites had decided that tonight’s conditions were ideal for taking to the air. Akin to clumsy miniature dragonflies, they seemed more reliant on wind dispersal than under their own powered flight. Nevertheless here they were soaring away in an elegant chain on a campaign to set up new colonies.
Forcefully it struck me that here at exactly 6.32pm on June 15th 2013, I was in the right place and at the right time to witness one of nature’s great spectacles. Nearby bushes shook with the sudden launch of Dusky Flycatchers as they relentlessly picked off termites with an array of aerial assaults. A flash of orange announced the arrival of a Robin Chat to the feast, closely followed by a Yellow Vented Bulbul and a Fork-tailed Drongo. Sooty Chats emerged from the long Mara grassland ascending vertically to pick off yet more termites helplessly silhouetted against the early evening sky. As termite wings rained down around me like Sycamore seeds I wondered if any of the termites could survive running this avian gauntlet.
As twilight turned to night, bird activity dwindled. Surely the termites’ only salvation would be the setting sun. As the thought crossed my mind, Nightjars appeared from nowhere like a squadron of spitfires and took charge of the sky snapping at the tails of the bats that had joined the hunt after the setting sun. Amongst the mayhem and against all the odds, the lone silhouette of a winged termite could be seen evading the snapping beaks of the Nightjars and detection by the bats. Frantically beating its wings it finally caught the wind and sailed away to safety. As it soared ever higher and faster I wondered if the future of the colony would depend on the success of this lowly little fellow. Had the sacrifice of so many termites ensured the survival of their lineage?
In the paradox of life and death one creature’s loss is another ones gain. Although many termites perished, the birds took advantage of this unpredictable harvest to ensure their own wellbeing. So it would seem that although the early bird may get the worm, it’s the bird that stays up late that gets the termite.
Text © Dr Rhys Jones 2013
Image © Anthony Walton