Swallows and bumblebees

Today is 10th April. The swallows arrived the day before yesterday. I can recall that around ten years ago I used to see the swallows for the first time around the 20th, but I lived up North then in Lancashire, so I'm going to try to keep track of the date. If I can remember to, I'll diarise it each year.
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I'd noticed over the last couple of weeks that there's a healthy looking bumblebee population around here. Now I've realised why.... they're all hugely interested in a mass of little holes in the pointing on the back wall of the house. These are not just cracks in the plaster, but small round holes perhaps a centimetre diameter. They have a round, well-used look about them.
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I have a dilemma here. I want both bumblebees and sound pointing. I think I'll compromise by researching bumblebees nesting times... perhaps I can renew the pointing in the Autumn. Meanwhile, perhaps I can construct one (or more) of those insect winter nests that get built out of lots of different sized tubes tied together.
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I also notice that as we get the warm April sunshine, ladybirds are appearing in masses on the stems of last year's nettles. That shouldn't be a problem. It can't be beyond the wit of man to keep a few nettles over wintering around here.

Ducks

Just walked the dogs up by the pond. It looks as thought there is a pair of wild ducks, mallards, starting to nest up there. As I approached with the dogs they flew up together and starting circling. They didn't fly away, but they only came down again until we moved on.
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I hope they stay. I can't stay entirely out of their way unfortunately, so there're going to have to get used to me.
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If they do stay, they will really have an ideal home and nursery; a pond entirely to themselves and twenty odd acres of rough scrubland as a feeding area.