Skip to main content
Advertise with the Morning Star
One swallow does not a summer make
Where do swallows go over winter, asks JOHN GREEN
FEATHERED FRIENDS: An RSPB handout photo of a swallow

VERY soon we will be observing the return of swallows to our shores. These are iconic birds, symbolising the arrival of summer and idyllic sunny days to come.

Sadly, the numbers of these birds have been declining over recent decades as a direct result of the calamitous decline of insects, their sole food source. 

In my childhood I remember having to regularly clean the car’s windscreen on long journeys because it became caked with the bloody and sticky corpses of insects. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
File photo dated 27/03/23 of former prime minister Sir Tony Blair during an interview
Features / 7 October 2025
7 October 2025

JOHN GREEN has doubts about the efficacy of the Freedom of Information Act, once trumpeted by Tony Blair

ghosts
Books / 2 October 2025
2 October 2025

JOHN GREEN is enchanted by the story of women’s farm work, both now and the the 1940s, that brims with political and social insight

malangatana
Book Review / 30 September 2025
30 September 2025

JOHN GREEN welcomes a remarkable study of Mozambique’s most renowned contemporary artist

soul
Film of the week / 28 August 2025
28 August 2025

Despite the primitive means the director was forced to use, this is an incredibly moving film from Gaza and you should see it, urges JOHN GREEN

Similar stories
ARTICHOKES GALORE: (L to R) Growing in a allotment and cooke
Gardening / 3 January 2025
3 January 2025
Although there’s not much growing in the garden in January, globe artichokes are worth a try if you follow these tips from MAT COWARD
British Royal Marine poses with two severed heads during the
Book Review / 15 November 2024
15 November 2024
RON JACOBS recommends an exhaustive demonstration that colonialism is insidious, pervasive, positive and negative
Garlic chives on a plate
Gardening / 9 November 2024
9 November 2024
MAT COWARD declares this plant to be one that ‘everyone should grow’
(L to R) The autumn senescence of grape leaves is programmed
Science and Society / 6 November 2024
6 November 2024
Genetic engineering to remove a structure from plant cells called the Golgi body sheds light on how leaves change with the seasons, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT