cold,wet swallows

You have to feel sorry for those birds which have arrived here from Africa. A trip to The Bandiat yesterday revealed a flock of about 100 swallows most of whch were hunting in tight formation low over a meadow, trying to find or put up some flying insects. Others, however, were simply sat in the middle of the track and could hardly stir themselves to let the car past.
The river itself was flowing strongly and the current was strong enough to take quite a lot of the water beyond the gouffres. Apart from 4 mallards, there were no migrants but it is rather late in the spring for stuff to be turning up now. In the nearby Braconne Forest a few nightingales were trying to sound cheerful in the miserable conditions.
Speaking of flocks of birds, about 100 linnets were noisily assembled in the orchards at la Tache yesterday and about 20 swift were feeding over the plains.