The sun has finally poked its head from behind the rain clouds and spring has eventually emerged. With the wettest winter for many years, so much so, Andalucia now has enough water in its reservoirs for the next two years, a green carpet covers the countryside speckled with wonderful wild flowers.
The birds of course have wasted no time in making their presence known with the dawn chorus; a wonderful mixture of Cetti’s warbler (Ruiseñor bastardo), Nightingales (Ruiseñor), Chaffinches (Pinzon vulgar)and Golden Orioles (Oropendola).
The Great spotted woodpecker (Pico picapinos) can be heard drumming away to mark out his territory and also the yaffle call of the Green woodpecker (Pito real), in the woods behind the village.
The unmistakable call of the Bee-eater (Abejaruco)is a great sound. These fantastically exotic coloured birds are returning from their wintering grounds in Africa. Often hard to see at first because they fly so high but they eventually settle on lower grounds as they prepare their nests in colonies in the soft earth banks,sometimes in the most unlikely of places next to busy roads. The males normally return first and prepare the nest, a long tunnel, sometimes 2 metres long, in the soft earth and then keep and eye-out for a female mate to join them.
The House martins (Avion comun) of course generally return to the same spot,adding a bit of extra mud here and there to their abode. One lucky house-martin pair in the village have had their nest painted in their absence by the owner of the house where it clings to the wall.
The Swallows (Golondrina )are performing their amazing skills of aerodynamics, flying inches off the ground, scooping up their food of insects and flying off at right angles as you approach them. I am sure they are playing dare as they fly in front of the car as you drive along with total disregard for their own safety.
Finally the Swifts (Vencejo comun) ; these amazing creatures are now back in droves. Generally Common swifts around the village but Alpine (Vencejo real) can be seen in the mountains behind us. Each morning and evening their screams can be heard and in their ever increasing numbers they fly around the church and main plaza until they disappear in August.
Sitting on the terrace, just a few feet above our heads, the juvenile swifts chase each other in sheer exuberance screaming as they go past. Sometimes a swish of air is all you feel as they rocket past.
We popped around a friend’s house who explained that a Swift had landed on her patio and was unable to move. She thought that it had damaged a wing as it was unable to take off. We explained that due to their wing shape and that their legs are positioned for clinging onto edges, they are unable to take off once they land on the ground. As soon as they leave the nest they fly continuously for at least two years until they reach maturity and then build their own nests under the eaves of roofs, normally churches, and come to rest for a short while.
The Swift that laid on the patio was not injured after its overnight ordeal,s so we took it upstairs to the roof and threw it up into the air where it flew up and up and rejoined its mates flying around like a loony once more. A truly remarkable bird.
