Rosher.Net

I guess we’ve all been watching Bill Oddie on BBC’s Springwatch, cooing and laughing over the fluffy and feathery things. At one of my substations we’ve had swallows nesting over several years, sometimes in the most inconvenient places. This year they’ve taken to nesting on top of a wall mounted electric heater (which had been turned off for the summer in any case) in a site hut.

A couple of days ago I noticed a magpie hovering about the site hut. He clearly intended to make his entry and feast upon the swallow fledglings. He didn’t make it though. Not only did the parents swoop about his head, at least twenty swallows, presumably from nests made in more considerate locations, dive bombed this misguided predator, smacking his head left and right with their wings as they flew about him. He eventually gave up. I would have too!

Tonight I had occasion to visit the hut, which is otherwise left well alone. Here are the fledglings…

Click the pic for a larger version.

Tag: Springwatch Oddie swallow nest