Looks close!
Gee Maw, we got House Martians!
If they are white under the beakā¦ martins
Reddish under the beakā¦ swallows
short forked tail ā¦ martins
long forked tailā¦ swallows
(probably easier to judge that when they are in flight)
Itās swifts that donāt perch. Swallows / house martins, youāll see stacks of them lined up on telegraph wires just before migration. No social distancing then!
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We have a magpie nest in our cedar. Magpies and jays predate on songbirds, eggs and chicks.
Our neighbour said that previously the chasse would come and destroy the magpie nests. Shame that doesnāt happen now.
Larsen traps are very useful in protecting our songbird population.
Buzzards time their hatching so that there are bluetit chicks around to feed to their young. All part of Natureās great plan. But it isnāt so easy being at the top of the food chain, as we are finding out!
I have only seen buzzards attacking our hens when they were free range in the orchard. etc etc
There are many small mammals here, voles, mice etc. for them to eat.
They tend to prefer carrion, maybe because it doesnāt fight back, but they need easily digestible morsels for their chicks.
They donāt drink, but get all their water from what they eat, so they can get into trouble during a long drought.
I once found one that couldnāt fly and phoned the local bird hospital, thinking they would send someone out. āJust pick it up and bring it in.ā they said. āHow can I do that?ā I asked. āJust throw an old coat over it and pick it up.ā They were right, it worked. In darkness they become passive and relax. A strange sensation being in such close proximity to a wild creature. . . .
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Swallows - the red head gives it away. Great photos!
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Yes, I think you nailed it. Most books show Swifts, Swallows and House Martins in flight and they donāt look the same when perching.
I have a window almost at the same height as the cable, so getting the pictures was relatively easy.
Iāll bite. What is the second bird?
Itās a Jay. A rather shy member of the crow family, but very handsome when seen close up.
Beautiful creatures. I live near some oak woodland - they plant oaks all over my land (and the squirrels plant walnuts).
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Wait til you find one of the azure ones, theyāre beautiful !
Iād say Little owl too. Athene noctua 
cool name and is on the Greek euro coin.
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I donāt know what sort of owl it is but I think itās very young. There were two of them flying around yesterday morning. I was worried about it being where it was because it offered no protection from neighbouring cats. It went a little while later so I hope itās now somewhere safer.
you may (or may not) have heard the parentsā¦ the call of the Little Owl is (to my ears) a plaintive bark/yelpā¦ others will be able to describe it betterā¦ but we have a pair locally and that is how he/she sounds to me.
Iām sure it is a little owl. It wasnāt at all concerned that I was close by through the window.