Swifts

I have been watching the antics of the swifts. There appear to be far more of them this year than previous years. All day they chase each other about swooping low over the rooftops and down inside the courtyard - all at incredible speed - hence the name I guess. Sometimes they fly right up against the corner by my bedroom window before virtually stopping in mid-flight, turning around on the spot and setting off again around the tree. They seem to do this repeatedly for hours, but mostly at dawn and dusk.

Apparently it is all part of their Spring mating ritual and unless they are actually incubating eggs of feeding young they spend all their time in continuous flight - they mate in flight and they sleep in flight, soaring higher and higher throughout the night.

I know all this because Debrah's Book of British Birds is on the coffee table and I looked it up, which shows one isn't too old to learn something. I thought it was so interesting I'd thought I'd share it with you.

I expect someone in the Mairie will be hatching a plot to get rid of them - just as they do with the starlings every Autumn.

There seems to be quite a lot of nature going on at the moment. The fields and verges are resplendent in their banks of bright red poppies and wildflowers and the riverbank and streams are full of the happy quacking of new born ducklings in their fluffy brown and yellow coats.

As for me, I'm not quite sure what is going on all of a sudden. I seem to be acting totally out of character. Today I went out on the bike for a good 45 minutes of hard cycling and even did some sit-ups when I got back, I ate a salad for lunch and dinner and I have been drinking coca-cola or water instead of wine. I think I must have been replaced by an alien during the night. After supper tonight I went out for a walk which didn't involve stopping to sit down on a bar stool.

Debrah will no doubt be thinking 'it won't last' and she is probably right. Once the alien leaves me alone I'll no doubt revert to type.

On the business front the Aussies left yesterday and are now in Avignon and I had a new arrival today - a lady travelling on her own who came down to complete a house purchase and is spending a couple of days here to look at the Cité before going home.