Thank goodness my eyes are OK (well for now anyway).
House martins seen for the first time today; must have come in carrying mud as they started building on one of the old sites immediately.
Fortunately I made sure to ask the guy pressure washing the external walls to leave the old nest sites and previous 'attempts' so that they could be used as anchors.
Did you know that they seem to find Dulux masonry paint very difficult to start their nests on. When I realised this, a few years ago, I went up on the builders' scaffolding (work was ongoing) and applied Unibond in what I thought were some of the 'right' places and lo and behold they stuck, (with a little help from their friends).
Anyway delighted to see them, I was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms and would love to know what kept them.
Later on, the morning after the Swallows' debacle I found the remains of a swallow's egg immediately under the telephone cable where they habitually perch, no nest, so where else could she lay. Would you believe that they are trying to make another nest about 30" from the previous one, as I had removed the nest box.
The next day I saw a Magpie go into the front garden hedge and come away with either egg or chick, too far away, when it landed in a tree, to see exactly what it was eating.
David, Felinfach