THE RETURN OF THE SWALLOWS

Previous dates of the first swallow sighted:

2016 – 10/04

2015 – 21/04

2014 – 19/04

This year it was two days earlier than last year, the 08^th April, and they couldn’t have picked a better weekend to return – blue skies and temperatures of 20c.

With the continuous sounds of chiffchaffs, blue tits, great tits, robins and blackbirds reverberating around the countryside near the garden, one quick burst of a swallow song suddenly emerged.

And there on a telegraph wire, well where else…, was the single swallow announcing his/her arrival.

With cooler temperatures expected for the next week (and typically Easter Bank Holiday) the first swallows to arrive back for the breeding season are unlikely to be in a sudden rush to build a nest.

Talking of nests, the blue tit one is looking almost complete, with both male and female birds taking turns to go in the nest box and create what is hoped to be a place to lay the eggs to hatch the next generation.

There appears to be feathers and hair discarded by the local horses now being brought in to line the nest; being carefully woven in to the dried grass and moss that is already there.

Moss is also being used for some of the other nest boxes, just not the other camera nest box.

It appears at least one of the triple next box is being used, but the next box with the other camera in is still being ignored.

The warm weather over the weekend has meant the wildlife in and around the garden is emerging from every nook and cranny that it’s been hiding away for the winter in.

Spring is most definitely here and the wildlife knows it.

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FOUND A NEW NEST

I'm not updating this blog as much as I'd like for two reasons - Time and the fact the great tits nest failed.

I had hoped they would return once I'd cleared the dead chicks and nest out, but I've not seen or heard them very much.

If they hadn't I thought another pair of birds would nest, especially as it's proved a popular nestbox.

The blue tits' nest in the wall of the outbuilding at the back of our house did provide some moments of wonder as the parents struggling to get in and out to feed the chicks, but that only lasted for about a week before they fledged, something I missed.

But this week I did find out where the swallows have nested this summer, not in the outbuilding that had provided the blue tits with a nest, but the big shed that houses a couple of horses about 150 yards behind our house.

Despite the weather I think they've been doing very well as there are thousands of insects flying about after any rain, which the swallows seem to gobble up as sweep majestically through the air.

I even think they sing when there's lots of food, exclaiming songs of joy at all the food.

Another storm is due to hit tonight and last over the weekend, so I hope the swallows delay fledging until next week, if indeed they are ready to.

I did see some blue tits chicks in the trees by the garden this week, but the small birds are slowly dispersing, probably to moult, with or without youngsters.

Here's to some better weather from next week, both for us and the wildlife!