Yesterday was a special day. A lone, almost insignificant silhouette transformed the usually hum-drum task of dropping the car in to the garage into a wholly noteworthy enterprise. Elegant, streamlined, forked tail streamers fluttering in the breeze… the profile perched on the telephone wire was unmistakable: my first swallow of 2016. Seeing your first swallow of spring….

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has called for householders in Britain and Northern Ireland to make damp mud available in their gardens to help certain bird species. At this time of year house martins and swallows are using damp mud to repair existing nests or build….