Summer residents are packing up to go

The barns have been a veritable nursery for birds this summer as they probably have been for all time. We had an ecological check earlier this year for bats and owls and fortunately the barns are far too draughty for bats! However, this will be the last summer that any birds will be nesting indoors  (hopefully!) so I thought I would try and photo some of the feathered activity. Our neighbours had said that swallows came every year and I was really fortunate with timing for one nest of swallows. The first nest fledged before I even found it as it is very unnerving to be inside a smallish room with swallows diving in at high speed, but the second one was in a different building and could be seen from the doorway. I set up the camera on a tripod with a remote shutter release (a birthday treat) and sat in the courtyard and waited. As soon as a parent bird flew into the barn I started snapping away and well, see the results.....