Fauna Friday a dipper and a sad swallow

Here is a pic of a dipper I saw recently.

There is sad news from the swallows' nest. We found a dead male on the shed floor on Saturday morning. Since then, the one I assume must be the female is often seen sitting on the beam beside the nest. She stays all the time I get the pony food ready. Two days ago I noticed at my feet, by the pony food bins, at the opposite end of the shed from the swallows' nest, three freshly broken swallow eggs. I can only think she knew they had gone cold and wouldn't hatch so she carried them away and dropped them. It's so sad. They got back all the way from Africa then one died accidentally. I suspect it was the gales - he got blown as he was near the wall and crashed into it. We buried him in the garden.
As a cat owner I am used to dead birds, which is a sad fact of cat-keeping life. But occasionally you get a bird that's a bit special and it doesn't seem right just to dispose of it in the usual way. It has been put beside where we buried a dead swift that we found in the garden two years ago. (Swifts are not common in these few square miles).

(By 'the usual way' I mean I usually just tuck them away in undergrowth)


Sorry the blog has been quiet. It's mainly because of hot, sunny weather and therefore not getting round to putting photos on. It'll be quiet for a few more days as we are going off to see Alzheimery Dad for a few days. Would rather like to stay here as there is a Jubilee tea party in a nearby village and I would have liked to enter the fancy dress competition as a corgi. I'm not a great royalist but I like a good tea party.