France in Focus

The swallows have arrived a couple of weeks early this year - the 26th March. Apart from the cold north wind, it's very mild here and spring-like. They nested in our garage, a barn, for the first time last year. They've made exploratory trips in previous years but never actually nested. OH had made a flap in a wooden door which seems to have encouraged them to stay. Unfortunately, they built the nest above where one of the cars is parked .... so he needs to make some sort of shelf to catch the guano.
It's great hearing them all chattering away on the gutters. I'm looking forward to the arrival of the swifts and their beautiful sharp cry !

Haven't seen a swallow yet, nor heard the cuckoo.

I love swifts as well, love sitting in my garden in the evenings watching them soaring over & screaming. Amazing birds.

A warm afternoon, we had the door to the garden and the side window both open in our kitchen. Our two cats were sitting, as usual, right by the fridge when suddenly two swallows flew in through the door, locked in a sort of chase – almost like a dogfight in aerial combat – and then shot back out through the open window at high speed. No sooner had the pair – and we, for that matter – recovered from our surprise than they came round again for a second flypast. Judging by their puzzled looks, our cats were even more surprised than we were. For us, it was a little gift from Mother Nature, for the cats a gift that was fortunately out of reach.

Until about ten years ago, they used to return every year to the entrance to our two caves, but for some reason they no longer build their nests there.

I haven’t seen swallows in the village but a friend in the countryside has. I heard my first cuckoo last week, later than usual.

Saw our first swallows yesterday, here in Yonne. We have them nesting each year, and have already opened the upstairs barn window they use for summer. We also had barn owls last year, and put a camera up so I could watch them. Marvellous.

I heard our first cuckoo this morning, which is a good deal later than usual. Come the end of April, I'll be sick to death of hearing it.

We get few swallows but get quite a few house martins. Some tried to set up home under the eaves of the grange but the nests were destroyed. We suspect magpies - of which we have quite a lot in the immediate surroundings.

They also seem to deter birds from the various feeders even though these are mostly sited to make life difficult for larger birds and provide escape routes for smaller ones.

We haven't heard a single cuckoo yet. Loads of swallows flying around today and OH has put up some of that garden netting (no holes) stuff to keep the car clean.