THEY say that one must not get hopes up of a good summer when they see a swallow, but for one Oswestry resident, the appearance of a whole family has been a boost.

Avril Jones was able snap the arrival of a new family of swallows at her house in an undisclosed area of Oswestry, despite her fears that changes to her house may have seen the last of the migrating bird.

She says the garage at the property she and her family have lived in since 1988 was demolished in 2016, but with a new garage completed, the birds have returned and took to the skies for the first time last week.

"Swallows nested in our old garage since we moved here in 1988 but in 2016 the old garage was demolished," she said.

"I was so upset and thought we'd lost these beautiful birds, but as soon as the new garage was built a pair of swallows swooped in, checked it out, liked what they saw and set about building their nest and have returned every year since.

"This year all four chicks fledged on Saturday, July 4.

"It was pouring with rain that day and the chicks looked so miserable sitting on the fence in the rain, waiting for their parents to bring them their breakfast.

"The awful weather worked in my favour because all four chicks flew back inside and perched on the shed door, and I was able to get lots of lovely photographs through the glass pane in our back door.

"The parents were kept so busy feeding their hungry brood. They all come back to the shed to roost and I just love listening to their constant chatter as they settle down for the night."

Avril admitted more chicks are on the way for her guests, after weeks of nest building.

She continued: "Recently, I've noticed the parent birds flying in with feathers, bits of hay and other nesting materials in their beaks, so on Friday I went into the shed, with my trusty mirror to enable me to see in the nest without touching it.

"There was one single egg nestled in among the feathers. They're obviously having a second brood – another busy few weeks for these amazing and wonderful little birds."