About
Our far-flung visitors
Many of the animals you see around Dumfries spend only part of the year here. The rest of the time they are thousands of kilometres away — and the journeys they make to reach us are some of the most remarkable feats in the natural world.
Animals migrate for one simple reason: to stay ahead of the seasons. Dumfries in summer offers almost endless daylight and a huge flush of insects — perfect for raising young — but it's no place to be when winter closes in and the food runs out. So birds like the swallow and swift arrive in spring to breed, then leave for warmer, insect-rich Africa before autumn. Others do the opposite: ducks and waders that nest in the frozen north come south to our mild, ice-free estuaries to sit out the winter. A few, like the painted lady butterfly, make the journey in relays, no single insect living to complete the round trip.