Raising a Family

On our stay at a farm campsite in the Purbeck Hills, Dorset, I discovered that a pair of swallows were nesting in the rafters in one of the old stone barns. The parent birds were zooming in and out of the open door, bringing all manner of flying insects they had caught back to their offspring. I counted four rather mature chicks in all, which seemed very close to fledging judging by the amount of jostling for space and wing stretching going on. This must be a second or even third brood as it's nearly time for the migration back to South Africa for overwintering. Gladders recently commented upon the reduced numbers of swallows seen on telephone cables these days, so it was particularly gratifying to see that in this area of outstanding natural beauty at least, the swallows are doing well.