Welcome swallow - Take 2!

This was not the photo I planned to take. I had intended to take the earthquake damaged chapel at the retirement chapel up the road, but it had been demolished! Since yesterday!

But these little birds were back on the creek (small stream) nearby and I think they might be nesting under the little bridge. So I couldn't resist another shot of them , the light was good and they are so colourfu.l

The welcome, or house swallow, was self introduced from Australia in the 1950s so it is categorised as a fully protected native bird. The spread of the swallow has been spectacular and they are now a very common bird throughout the country. As well as Australasia, the bird breeds in Southern Asia from India to Malaysia and the western Pacific.

They are small, graceful, dark blue and white birds, with variable amounts of rusty red on the head and breast. They have streamlined bodies with a short neck and long, pointed wings. The tail is a deeply forked ?swallowtail?. Their flight is graceful and rapid as they hawk for insects on the wing. They are birds of open country, hunting over lakes, rivers and grassland.