First of the Year!

[waddo]

Our annual visitors have started to arrive. Saw the first one yesterday and then today there was a pair of them flying around last years nests - they have left again, as per normal, but they are very early this year indeed for my location up in Catalkoy.

Call them whatever you will, have a long and involved discussion about it if you want to, I have no idea if they have been vaccinated or have had a PCR test - they just arrived like always - Swallows!!!

Good to see them back for the 11th year in a row.

[Chriswright03]

We have Wagtails here.

[13roman58]

Swallows or Swifts? I don,t know the difference.
Not had any yet but they usually bomb around the pool during the day, drinking, and later feeding from the insects at dusk.
Might be the huge flocks of crows that are here now have scared them .

[mrsgee]

last year we had a family of blue tits nesting in a pot hanging on the wall, so lovely to watch them, and hope they will soon come back.

[waddo]

Don’t think the crows scare them, they have come back (or their offspring have) here for the past 10 years and used the same nest. When their young hatch I have watched the parents chase away crows, magpies and even seen a group (not as big as a flock) chase away a bird of prey! Damn fearless they are! Also, strange to see the on the ground hopping about like sparrows last year, I always thought that they never landed to eat but these did! Lovely birds that crap all over my patio every year but I get to clean it so I don’t care - lol.

[faro]

Aye waiting for ours to arrive.

[Panchocat]

13Romans58.
Swallows have red throats and long forked tails. Swifts are larger and are brown all over. House Martin's have white tummies and rumps.