At last! The weather finally seems to be on the turn down here in the Alpujarras…spring is definitely in the air. Bats are emerging from hibernation and feeding in the afternoon sun, frogs are croaking, cicadas and crickets are singing in the evenings…and I’ve got my first insect bites of the year. Hurrah!
It’s all good. A bit of sunshine brought the valley below Lanjaron to life today…our local pair of Kestrels continue to patrol their airspace along the ridge and Crag Martins showed well as they soared and swooped overhead , but today they were not alone. The first Barn Swallows and House Martins have returned! Maybe half a dozen House Martins and just one Barn Swallow joined their Crag Martin cousins swirling over the valley…my very first of the year. A quick phonecall to Kiersten confirmed she’d seen them too. Surely spring is here at last!
With House Martins and Barn Swallows nesting throughout Europe, quite where these returning migrants are going to end up is an intriguing question. They could be headed for northern Europe or even Scandinavia…or maybe their remarkable journey has now ended, and they’re “local” birds looking to nest in and around the village. Fascinating stuff. Either way, their arrival heralds the changing of the seasons and it’s fantastic to have them back again. Nice to have both species make it onto February’s list!
With the new month upon us our summer visitors will be arriving imminently, so now’s the time to keep checking the postings for all the latest news. Finally! It’s what we’ve been waiting for through all that winter rain…
