Thursday, 30 April 2009

Wanderers return

Last week (22nd April) I saw the first swallows of the year in Aber.  This is a week later than last year which may be a reflection of the colder winter we have had this year.  I spotted two sitting on the telephone wires - no doubt resting after their long flight - and also one swooping and turning in the field opposite.  So far there has been no interest in the nest under the back porch.  After a very successful year in 2007 when two broods were raised there, there was only one brood last year.  Maybe there just wasn't enough food for them.  The midges were not too troublesome last year but the signs are better (at least as far as the swallows are concerned) for this year as the number of flying insects around is increasing rapidly.  And I've had a couple of bites to prove it.

"Then welcome, little swallow, by our morning lattice heard, 
   Because thou com’st when Nature bids bright days be thy reward!"


Thomas Aird 1802 - 1876

For more information on swallows and their habits visit the RSPB site on the swallow and migration

They also need rain and mud to provide the building materials for their nests.  No shortage of that today as there was light rain when I walked the Aber path to the village for the paper this morning which has been followed by a lunchtime downpour. 

The walk to the village is part of the Aber Path and leaflets are available at the beginning of the walk by the Kilmaronock Millennium Hall.  It goes past the house and on to the Nature Reserve by the loch, managed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

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