Absences

Sadly, and for the first time ever, our house martins have not returned to the nest at the side of our house this year. However, all may not be lost. A pair have been prospecting the gable of a house next door but one. This is one of the birds, and considering the distance and the heavy cropping, it’s an image that I think works.

There are two impediments however. The birds need to collect mud to build their nests, and the continuing very dry weather means that that is a commodity which is in very short supply. And I have heard that there is accumulating evidence of a big fall in insect numbers, so little resource to feed the young. I am not hopeful as we move into summer.