The wire-tailed swallow acquires its name from the two long and wire-like tail feathers that the adult birds possess. These extended feathers and their red caps make the adult swallows instantly recognisable as they swoop and dive with incredible speed and agility around the camp.
A pair of the swallows has nested in the eaves of our kitchen hut here and so I often see them collecting insects and ferrying their spoils to the three chicks that they are raising, with seemingly limitless energy.
This week the three fledgling swallows left their nest for the first time and I have loved watching them test their wings and perfect their flying in the kitchen – moving uncertainly from beam to beam, spurred on by the encouragement of their parents and each other.
In addition to being fascinating to watch, these swallows draw my thoughts to home. This is primarily because watching them swoop down from the nest reminds me of the house martins that do this when they nest under the eaves of my house and the delight that myself, my mum and my sister feel when they do so.
The resemblance of the swallow chicks to the martlet – a mythical bird that features in the crest of my college, also makes me thing of university and the lovely friends that I have made there and who I shall not see for a long time yet. I wish that these friends could be here now to share in my joy at watching the swallows.
Instead I shall have to make do with writing about the swallows and to look forward to being able to relate the stories of these birds and the other fascinating animals that I have encountered, and no doubt will continue to encounter, on my chimpanzee chasing adventure.
For the delight that watching them brings, and for the fond thoughts of home, family and friends that they evoke, the wire-tailed swallow has to be my third ‘animal of the week’.
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