Exotic migrants

Swallows have begun massing outside on the telephone lines. The swifts left some time ago and are already sunning themselves in Africa. Atlantic bonitos, however, are swimming in the opposite direction. A rare species for our waters, one was caught this week off the Cornish coast. There was also news of big cats, with evidence of a leopard living wild in north Devon. Wallabies, too, have been sighted in the area. I hear they pick raspberries during the summer and work behind reception desks in local hotels.