Welcome back to our Swallows

Every year our courtyard is full of swooping swallows who nest in the old barns around the farm. This year they returned on 8th April and by early May have been busy making nests in the bicycle store!

British swallows spend their winter in South Africa: they travel through western France, across the Pyrenees, down eastern Spain into Morocco, and across the Sahara. Some birds follow the west coast of Africa avoiding the Sahara, and other European swallows travel further east and down the Nile Valley.

Migrating swallows can cover an amazing 200 miles a day at speeds of 17-22 miles per hour.

In their wintering areas swallows feed in small flocks, which join together to form roosting flocks of thousands of birds. Swallows arrive in the UK in April and May, leaving to return to their wintering grounds in September and October.

Our guests are always delighted by the stunning aerial acrobatic display over the courtyard.

We think we are very lucky to have them spend the summer with us every year!