Summary

The Swallow Word on the Week 22nd August 2026.
It is only recently that our friend the swallow has been performing their annual routine. Once more the electricity wire which runs diagonally across the 14 acres is their favoured perch. It’s probably because the wire crosses the South West direction where the prevailing wind brings with it a supply of insects from the fir plantation.
The avian equivalent of ‘meals on wheels’! They need the food as most are this year’s youngsters from the first hatching while the parents prepare for a second family. This would consist of four eggs but with a mortality rate from the predators. These consist of the crow family, Sparrow Hawk and now with its introduction to Ireland, the Red Kite.
It is a joy to come to the farmyard and hear the melodious ‘tswit’ coming from all quarters as the birds execute their manoeuvers. The display is not for show but is part of the feeding process. They have been blessed with a large mouth, hinged at the widest part of their head so that the gape can scoop up multiple insects on the wing.
The young hatch in around 2 weeks and are fed by both parents. The nest soon becomes too small and the largest chick will perch on the nearest branch or wire. They continue to be fed. This is the most vulnerable time but after a couple of weeks they become fully fledged and join their friends in the 14 acres.
They are blessed with very diligent parents who work hard at producing successive broods. Their activities are largely governed by the food supply which was poor in the months up to early August when we suffered drought.
They need to be fit for their 6,000-mile journey to winter in South Africa. The flight path takes them across the Sahara Desert and across the equator so many challenges are in their path. Their God-given navigational skills enable the Swallow to winter in South Africa and return to Ireland the following Spring. And not just to Ireland but to the very nest, or what remains of it where they were born! They speak to us with confidence in their instinct.
There is a lesson here for the Christian who having trusted God for his/her salvation should not worry about everyday things. Jesus thought the birds could teach us a lesson. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (St Matthew Chapter 6 verses 25/7)
We each choose our master – either faith or worry. Which is it to be?