House martins

Black & white chatterboxes.

Natures natural brick makers.

Mysterious migrants. It’s still not clear where they travel to in Africa each autumn and from where they return in spring.

Social and yet capable of grim infanticide. We watched a bird eject young from the nest of another house martin.

One of the birds that fascinated me most in childhood,

Their numbers now in steep decline. Their migratory journey is ever-more hazardous. Their insect food no longer abundant.

I paused to enjoy this colony on the outskirts of Paris last week.

I enjoyed them more than the Olympics I’d visited to see. Joyous.