We are on a migration route here so we get quite a few groups pass through before "ours" arrive. Mainly House Martins and Swifts settle here for the summer. "Ours" have been here for a couple of weeks now.
A little further north of here at the we were surprised to see Swallows in winter and we were told that they are an alpine variety, in English they would seem to be called Crag Martins. It seems that they send summer in the Alps, nesting in the cliffs, and then winter at the lower levels. You can still get a lot of snow where we saw them but the river never freezes so apparently the cold does not worry them and the get enough insects to live.
At the end of summer it is a little sad to see "ours" depart but the continueing migration lasts several weeks, ours are always the first to leave and the last to arrive so I suppose they must winter further south than the later departures.
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