Bird on a Wire

I have mentioned before how special the Swallow is to me. It all goes back to my mother reminding me every year that I was born in our house in Carradale at the end of April as the first Swallows arrived. Each year, as my birthday approached, we would watch out for the Swallows and without fail they would arrive, sometimes early but never late.

As a child it didn't mean that much to me, but as years have gone on it has taken on a greater significance and I am now very fond of these little birds. Its maybe also something to do with their migration each year to the South of Africa. For wee birds like this to cover so many miles never ceases to amaze me. Also, for them to come back to the same area where they were born is quite astounding. You can't help but admire them!

When we moved to Carradale and bought a small boat from a man in Wales guess what it was called? Yes, it was "Swallow", probably after the childhood adventures in the book "Swallows and Amazons". I think the boat was meant for us!

When we built our new house the Swallows built a nest in the apex of the timber frame and remained there during the construction. The parents had to fly through the rooms and corridors to find a way in and out to the nest, but this they did. The young hung around inside the house for a few days after leaving the nest, before they found their way out and were gone. I was delighted they had chosen our house to nest in, although I don't think the exterior eaves suit them as they haven't tried to build nests there.

The cold wet weather this year meant the first Swallows were a bit later arriving. Since then it has been unusually cold and there have been far fewer about than in previous years. A neighbour reported he had found one dead beside his house and it was just skin and bones. Probably a combination of the rough weather they had to pass through on their journey and the lack of flies when they arrived.

The good news is that with the bright sunny weather of the last couple of days, there are now many more Swallows about, some already building nests. While I was upstairs on the computer this morning with the window wide open, I could hear them close by. Every now and then one of them would land on the phone line a few yards from the open window to sing and preen itself. With the camera close by this was a perfect blip opportunity not to be missed.

I am really pleased to get a nice shot of the Swallow, especially in bright sunlight and against a blue sky to show up its beautiful colours!

As I finish my write up the Swallow is back on the line looking at me through a small gable end window. This was clearly meant to be my blip for the day!