I had an enjoyable lunch at a small café in Blanco recently. I chose to sit at an outside table since it was a nice sunny day.

While I was waiting to be served, I noticed a barn swallow glide in over my head and perch by a nest made of mud and stuck under the building eaves. She proceeded to feed her nestlings, with what I guessed to be small insects.

I had a chicken-bacon sandwich and a glass of Real Ale porter, enjoying the aerial comings and goings of that mother swallow. She was typical of t...