The swallows are back. We saw the first one flying over Popehouse Moor on 11 April, and they're already making themselves at home in the barn and workshop. You know the warmer months are coming when you see them perched on the wire above the farmyard and swooping over the pond to take a fleeting sip.

As summer migrants from Africa they must be our furthest-travelling visitors. I hope they continue to be the most frequent  to return as well! Their navigation skills never cease to amaze me - some of the adults choosing nest sites will have been born in this very same barn a year ago.

(And the canada geese are still around too... no sign of a nest though.)