As I have mentioned in the past, we live next to our daughter, our house effectively having been built in their garden. I have always admired the fact that they have had house martins nesting under their eaves, whereas ours is not as yet seen as des res.

Last year they did not arrive, the nests, the ball- like structures built of mud, having fallen down in the winter storms. We weren’t sure what happened but maybe they found another venue. I missed them zooming around the garden, especially hunting flies under the sycamore tree. We thought we’d lost them and then, joy of joys, a pair are back this year and have been busy building the nest.

They build a nest using mud from ponds or rivers, with up a 1000 beak loads, so it’s not surprising that they prefer to renovate old nests rather than build a new one. The last couple of years have been dry during spring and we didn’t have the pond, and even though we tried to form a mud source, it may have been the weather that worked against us. The birds will line the finished nest with white feathers and it will be a safe and secure haven for for or five young, born after about three weeks of egg incubation. House sparrows have been known to take over nests, obviously seeing it as too good a residence to pass by, which must be incredibly frustrating when you’ve spent up to 10 days building.

Martins were originally cliff dwellers and have adopted the urban lifestyle and the opportunity to use buildings provided by us humans. They prefer to nest in colonies and can get quite noisy. It is true that martins can make a mess and some people fix a tray below the nests to catch droppings, but for me is a small price to pay for the joy of having them as guests. Summer is here.

• Fred Knobbit is a nature blogger. You can read his archive at www.bodminblogger.com