Our ‘ugly duckling’ the best in town

IT is four weeks since we read that the first swallow had been sighted — nevertheless, it’s always a thrill and a reassurance to see them once again splitting one’s local skies.

Last Sunday week, a friend phoned me from Sherkin Island in Roaringwater Bay to say he’d spotted a flock of martins coming in over the sea, with a single swallow amongst them. The following morning, I spotted two swallows zipping over the River Argideen at Timoleague.

The herons which I reported seeing stalking the field opposite our garden clearly have issues. We have one of them in a box in the yard.