SWARMING SWALLOWS AND BUTTERFLIES

     When driving through Lancaster County farmland during August and September, I sometimes see flocks of purple martins, barn swallows and tree swallows, all swallow species, lined up on roadside wires, sometimes in mixed gatherings, or careening swiftly over fields after flying insects to eat.  Occasionally, I see some swallows sitting on the blacktop of hardly-used, rural roads, as they do on mud flats and beaches. 

     And, often at the same time, I see swarms of pretty butterflies of at least a few kinds, particularly cabbage whites and yellow cloudless sulphurs, fluttering among the innumerable, lovely flowers of alfalfa and red clover plants in hay fields.  Sometimes those fields shimmer with interesting butterfly activity, as those beautiful creatures sip sugary nectar from alfalfa and clover blossoms.  Sometimes, whole fields seem to be moving with butterflies in flight, as their hordes flutter from bloom to blossom. 

     These two groups of adaptable wildlife are the most commonly seen beings around August and September hayfields.  All those species are attractive and lively, often adding wildness, and entertainment, to those hayfields.

     These swallow and butterfly species adjusted well to human activities in human-made habitats, to their benefit, and ours.  Mowing hay benefits swallows and butterflies.  The cutting of hay by machinery stirs up multitudes of flying insects that the swallows eagerly snap up as they swoop low over the hayfields, speedily weaving in and out among their fellows without collision.  Ingesting their fill of insects fattens and strengthens the swallows to make their autumn trip south to warm climes.  And the butterflies benefit because the response of alfalfa and clover to mowing is to grow new, nectar-laden flowers that the butterflies will visit. 

    Purple martins drift south by mid-August, while barn swallows do so late that month and into September.  Tree swallows migrate south through here mostly during September.  And many of the migrants from each species consume some of the insects over local hayfields as they meander south.

     Sometime in September, the numbers of butterflies begin to dwindle, but some are in the hayfields into October.  But a heavy frost during that beautiful, fall month kills some insects, while others seek cover, mostly in the sheltering soil.  

     Watch hayfields during August and September for swarms of attractive swallows and butterflies.  They are entertaining, and bring a sense of joy and appreciation to observers.

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