Look who flew into my life

I’M just back after a short break from the Irish winter which took me to Morocco.

The other morning I was sitting on the terrace of a hotel on the edge of the Medina in Tangier having my breakfast. The sun was shining, the temperature had already passed 20 degrees and I had got over the culture shock of a breakfast without any pig meat —- it was all very pleasant.

There were house sparrows hopping around the terrace, picking up crumbs that fell from the tables. I was idly watching them when I realised that a pair of birds at my feet were something which I was fairly sure I’d never seen in my life before.