Buttercups and swallows

It feels like we are approaching summer as the buttercups are all out and the field is a sea of yellow. It's an impressive site. We were also pleased to see the arrival of the swallows (Hirundo rustica) and their interest in our porch...

The swallows, who had not nested at our cottage before, spent a few days sticking bits of mud on the walls in small patches.

They then seemed to vanish for a few days before coming back to do the same. After a week they had laid the 'foundations' for the nest and started to add more mud to the back wall. The process to this point seemed to take a very long time and we weren't sure they were going to continue.

They then started adding more grass and the nest building gathered pace. Within a week it was as pictured above, well on the way to looking like a proper nest. Once the structure was almost complete one of the swallows (I don't know if it was the male or the female) spent most of the time in the nest (see below) making it smooth whilst the other fetched more mud and grass and other materials.