Looking out of my bedroom window, I kept seeing movement – something fast and blurry. I went outside with my dad to see what it was. He couldn’t believe it – they were house martins.

He told me that house martins were all around these houses 20 years ago, but then they all left and never came back, and we don’t know why. This is the first summer that they have returned to this street since then, and they were building a nest right next to my bedroom window.

House martins are small birds, only about 12cm long. They swoop past my window in and out of the nest all day, so I think they may have chicks in there. House martins lay four or five white eggs and they hatch after about 14 days. They may lay eggs two or three times in the summer and they feed their babies flying insects.

To go into the nest, they dip down near the bottom of my window and fly up really fast. I can see their bright white bellies when they do this. If I sit quietly by the window, I can hear really fast, high-pitched cheeping like they are chatting to one another and have lots to say.

They have come all the way from Africa, but why have they come back to this street in my village now? Where have they been in the summer for all these years? I found out that they are on the bird red list, which means that they are endangered, so we are very lucky to have them here. I hope they come back every year.
Freya, nine