Saturday 8 August 2015

Smile - on Saturday!

There must be some advantages to living on a dusty building site!
It's a beautiful, sunny day here and the swallows are out making the most of it.
As I was mopping - yes MOPPING the dust from my windows, I could hear lots of swallow chatter.

One of the houses opposite has scaffolding up and I stood watching the swallows playing "Tick off pole".
About 20 of them were circling the house and landing on the tops of each pole.
I am guessing many were fledglings building up their skills.
They spent about 10 minutes playing then all of them flew off.

My little video won't do the moment justice but it really was a pleasure to enjoy these beautiful little birds at play.
They will be gone from us all too soon but today they are here and loving it!
Just a smile for any bird lovers out there!

For more smiles - just pop over to Annie's "A stitch in time" blog and see what's making her smile today!

Have a great weekend

x Jo

14 comments:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

It reminded me of that game we played as children where there is one less chair than the number in the group. When the music stops, everyone scrambles to sit. That's how those little birds acted, trying to find an unused pole. I LOVED it!

Thanks for the Saturday Smile. Have a super weekend.

Robyn Oliver said...

Hi Jo, fab little video of the swallows, I have two young and two old magpies visit in our front yard and watch the oldies teaching the young. Long day (nearly 10 hours) for us but we have arrived safely with plants and cats in good order. My garden here is suffering so I'm glad it's only 3 weeks till the final pack and move. Hope you're enjoying your weekend Robyn

Laura said...

Every pole should have a baby swallow on it!! They are adorable!

Lisca said...

I can watch those birdies forever. Thanks for showing that. In front of our house is a large fig tree and the birds play 'swap a branch' with each other like yours did with the poles. It is an almighty twittering noise and they do this every evening.
Thanks for commenting Friday and sorry for being so late myself. (I got busy). Have a good week,
Lisca

Annie said...

Hehehe what a lot of fun they were having....thanks for sharing that Jo.
Hugs,
Annie x

Hettie said...

Awwww! sure raised a smile on me on a Saturday night.
Hugs
xx

Judys Lace Creations said...

I lkove birds, and these little cheekies are gorgeous!

Di said...

Oh how lovely Jo! Such a treat to watch and I eagerly wait for them to arrive here each Summer and feel sad when they gather to leave for the long flight for the Winter.

I did giggle last Sunday when we were at an all day archery shoot followed by a BBQ great fun too!) in a beautiful village nearby, thatched cottages etc. galore. Went back to the car to load everything up and come home and Len's jaw dropped at the (ahem) birdie calling cards all over his car. Serves him right for parking underneath an overhead power line - brilliant perching place for lots of swallows who were peering down at us and seemed to be chuckling to themselves :)

Hugs

Di xx

Anne said...

How lovely Jo. I am just catching up. Could not join in this week as on Friday I was racing to Somerset to see mum in hospital - she has had a really nasty fall:-( x

Anne said...

How lovely Jo. I am just catching up. Could not join in this week as on Friday I was racing to Somerset to see mum in hospital - she has had a really nasty fall:-( x

Anne said...

How lovely Jo. I am just catching up. Could not join in this week as on Friday I was racing to Somerset to see mum in hospital - she has had a really nasty fall:-( x

JoZart Designs said...

I loved seeing your video and will show it to DH as he loves watching the swallows when they swoop and swirl around the big trees bordering our garden. Seeing them all playing on the poles is amazing.
I'm patiently awaiting the arrival of my German wing of the family who have landed at Manchester airport. DH is tracking them on line!!! Can't wait.
Jo x

Elizabeth said...

Lovely video, Jo. It proves there's more to birds than feeding and flying - they play too :) We don't seem to have swallows in our neighbourhood so it was lovely to see yours playing their game. Hugs, Elizabeth xx

PS: I didn't put anything non-stick on the back of the sewing machine mat - didn't even think about and now I wonder if I should have. I'm going with Juli to an appointment at the Cochlear Implant Clinic tomorrow so I will ask her how the mat is performing and let you know :)

Barb said...

I've only just found your video. It's enchanting. I love watching the birds.

I remember some years ago in a previous house some house martins had made one of those little mud cup nests up on the soffits. One day when the window cleaner had finished he came to the door for his money and proudly announced that he had "knocked that nest down for me". He seemed surprised that I wasn't pleased about it. Barbxx