On several of the taller edifices in this eastern part of Gallicia y
Leon we have seen huge stork nests, so wide and messy it’s hard to imagine they
remain through the winter winds and rains, but remain they do. Storks mate for
life, and every spring they return from Africa to have their children, leaving
again in August for the long holiday south. The nests are empty now, being
September, but it’s nice to look up at a church spire, or a long-ago brick
chimney from a ceramic factory and imagine them
being home next spring.
The spires of churches host other birds now, especially in the early
evenings when the cooling air brings out the flies and other insects. A sort of
swallow-like bird will dart and soar like a speed demon in the cockpit of a
supersonic jet around all the Gothic stone carvings and Romanesque prominences,
sliding along walls and zipping through church bells. There will be several of
them, all flying at the same time in different directions, barely passing each
other and yet never hitting anything. They nest in mud packs clinging to the
outside join of a wall and roof overhang, invisible by day as they siesta and
wait for the evening. On can almost hear music as they flit with such energy
and apparent joy.
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