Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 8:14 pm
All at my house...Lifesabeach wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2017 8:13 pm I really hope the weather this year has only delayed them and they'll appear again soon.
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Where have all the swallows gone?
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Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 9:36 pm
They are nesting in our porch, and drinking out of the bowls we put out for the hedgehogs.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 9:38 pm
Come to think of it, I posted a picture of one of them, all tarted up, on a blog. Here it is again...
- 20_fb.jpg (109.07 KiB) Viewed 6266 times
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 11:06 pm
They've been dive bombing my pool for the last month.
Great to see.
Great to see.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 11:27 pm
Lucky, lucky swallows with all you lovely people looking out for them!
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 1:22 am
At the Extreme View Taverna, with four chicks in the nest and I have been watching them the last couple of weeks.
Looking at them they are due to go their own way soon.
A great pleasure watching them.
Keith
Looking at them they are due to go their own way soon.
A great pleasure watching them.
Keith
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 6:54 am
Yes the morning chorus is an excellent alarm clock, especially if you sleep with the window open.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 10:17 am
We're discussing swallows in the bee-eaters post. A couple of us noted there are noticeably less this year. For the last couple of years my neighbours and I had each had 3 nests in our patios, this year between us we only have 1.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 10:28 am
Can rent you some. We have enough.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 10:45 am
There doesn't seem as many as usual, but some despicable people destroy their nests.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 11:37 am
There's as many as usual here diving in the pool, squabbling through the veranda and flying through the house occasionally.
Pete
Pete
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Thu May 11, 2017 7:43 am
Sometimes their nests just collapse. On the rafter behind the one with the swallow's nest on in our porch, is another, older nest, with a hole in the side. It looks like it just split.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:07 pm
I said we had loads here! 
I just found one flying round and round our kitchen!
I just found one flying round and round our kitchen!
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 3:25 pm
We are actually destroying the nests in our patio later in the year. The hope is that the swallows will rebuild them properly. They did a Heath Robinson on an old nest after the incident with the magpie, and unfortunately they didn't pay too much attention to the base of the nest. The egg fell through the bottom. So we figured that if we destroyed the nest completely they would rebuild it properly. I want to make the area as magpie proof as I can as well.Lifesabeach wrote: ↑Thu May 11, 2017 4:21 pmSome people do because they don't want what they perceive as a 'mess' around their homes. Unfathonable, I know! Here, we all put some newspaper on the ground under the nests, held in place by a couple of stones. Easily changed; easily cleaned. And it's a privilege and joy to be able to watch the swallow families on their journey in life.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:57 pm
Commendable Dominic but instead of having to patch up the nest next year they will have to build an almost new one which is a waste of energy for them! Swallows, Martins & Swifts, etc are definitely in decline, though I have seen similar amounts this year as in previous years, but the most important thing for them is providing suitable nesting habitats, remember these were cliff nesting birds a long time ago that adapted to living with us! When we started "cleaning" up our buildings they started having problems together with other factors like food availability!
It's also worth pointing out that these birds will have 3 or 4 broods a year of between 4-6 eggs each time so there is a high mortality rate expected among these species! No comfort I know but a reality check
Shane
It's also worth pointing out that these birds will have 3 or 4 broods a year of between 4-6 eggs each time so there is a high mortality rate expected among these species! No comfort I know but a reality check
Shane
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 10:01 pm
Dozens here, Chaos for Mrs W trying to swim the other day... there were about 80-100 on the power lines to our house that day.
Re: Where have all the swallows gone?
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 11:23 pm
They patched up the nest this year. But they didn't do it properly. That's the whole point of making them start from scratch.ApusApus wrote: ↑Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:57 pm Commendable Dominic but instead of having to patch up the nest next year they will have to build an almost new one which is a waste of energy for them! Swallows, Martins & Swifts, etc are definitely in decline, though I have seen similar amounts this year as in previous years, but the most important thing for them is providing suitable nesting habitats, remember these were cliff nesting birds a long time ago that adapted to living with us! When we started "cleaning" up our buildings they started having problems together with other factors like food availability!
It's also worth pointing out that these birds will have 3 or 4 broods a year of between 4-6 eggs each time so there is a high mortality rate expected among these species! No comfort I know but a reality check
Shane