The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Wildlife => Topic started by: Bodger on August 22, 2013, 05:49:53 am
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They're every ones swallows of course but as in most years, this year we have a number of pairs of these very special birds staying with us for the all too short summer. They stay and nest in and around the outbuildings before flying off to warmer climes.
One couple have found a new nesting site this year under the eaves of our stable block. It seems to have been a good choice and so far, its working for them. I took this snap last night just before it went dark. The parent birds were still out getting that last mouthful of insects.
(http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb334/kcooper2011/019.jpg) (http://s1200.photobucket.com/user/kcooper2011/media/019.jpg.html)
The nest has been made with a special compound supplied by Pru the pig. I've been able to watch the swallows picking poopy mud from the pig wallow and carrying pieces of straw. The nest also has the draw string from an animal feed back incorporated in its construction. :knit:
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Brilliant.
There's nothing like a bit of 'shud' for nest building.
Our swallows are thinking about going south again - keep seeing family groups on the telegraph wires and lining up on the top fence wires. They're always the first to go, our house martins stay till mid September making the most of our insect population before the long trek.
Autumn is just around the corner - then the wait till next April before they return - always look forward to seeing them take up residence again.
Sue
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Yes iv noticed this they will be gone from the highlands next week. The robins have there new coats on for winter also iv just looked at the wether and i think a nice spell wensday to about sunday next week coming to the end of august. So the fires will be lit very soon as the dark moves in and a new season arrives Autumn my fa varate month every think going to sleep.
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We're only a few miles from you - we're in Moray - 'twixt the mountains and the sea. So I guess our summer visitors depart around the same time as yours.
I love the colours of Autumn - the trees show so many variants of yellow and gold - and the wonderful purple carpets of heather on the moorland.
Don't mind Winter too much -especially if sitting inside next to the wood burner, watching the weather go by - if only the cows could drive the tractor & get a fresh bale of hay for themselves...
Sue
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we had a failed nest of what i think are housemartins or could be swallows (i just cant tell the difference) this year. it was full of feathers and skeletons. quite sad, maybe the parents died. they have been here every year.
we also had a "blackbird" (i really dont know my breeds :-[) nesting near them to for the first. they all choose the barn to nest in. a proper stick nest this time.
how come wild birds love it here but when i bought some doves they disappeared at first opportunity? :roflanim:
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To tell them apart:
We get both swallows and house martins nesting here - the martins build their nests on the end of the house and in the outbuildings. The swallows only nest in the outbuildings - they don't like to be too close to humans, though they don't mind sharing with the cows.
If you watch them in flight - martins have a small white patch on their rump, swallows don't.
Here the martins tend to fly when feeding at house height or higher, the swallows swoop very low over the fields.
Sue
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I love having swallows staying for the summer, in spite of the copious guano deposited on everything in the barn. They seemed slow to arrive and start nest building this year but soon got going. Bodger, the lovely moist contents of your pig pen probably made all the difference to nest building when the mud outside was rock hard.
I love the fact that the baby swallows aren't remotely bothered by having people just below their nests, and the adults get very annoyed when a person dares to get in their way as they fly back and forth so busily with beakfuls of daddy long legs and other insects. Then there's the day those chubby youngsters which have been hanging over the edge of the nest decide to give flying a go. They have such fun swooping about calling excitedly to each other. makes me wish I could fly. We have 6 or 7 nests here this year, in spite of the evil cat catching a parent early on, and at least two still have chicks in - one lot should fledge any minute, the other is a few days behind.
Shygirl - swallows nests look like mowhaugh's pic, with an open top, usually inside a building, and red fronted black and white babies. Martins tend to nest outside the building, maybe under a gutter, and their nests are almost complete, with a single access hole right at the top. Martins are black and white but have no red on. We had a martin nest last year but they didn't make it back this time around.
Cross posted with Sue
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I love the fact that the baby swallows aren't remotely bothered by having people just below their nests,
Ditto was farrowing a july birth and was aware of being watched, looked up and four little pairs of beady eyes satred back at me, 4 baby swallows all crouched together on the edge of their nest i have a picture somewhere. We have swallows in all our pig arks, byres & stables, have even seen a swift or two this year however we are plagued by starlings who have discovered the creep feed left behind by the piglets. There also seems to be loads of magpies this year and you can hear them cackling away in the trees. Swallows usually leave us mid sept. Autumn is my fave time of year too, nice and warm enuff to be outside working during the day but lovely to go in and cosy up of a chilly evening.
Mandy :pig:
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Lovely :)
This morning we were watching the brood which fledged yesterday being taught how to drink from the pond, on the wing. It requires some accurate flying and they didn't always get it right so a couple had a good dunking but managed to get airborne again. Very entertaining. So just one more nest to fledge that we know of. I worry so much about the really late broods which get left behind by the parents when mid-Sept comes around, and have to make their own way south.
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One pair successfully nested in the new stable last summer on top of the light fitting ::) . A pair raised a brood of 4 earlier this year :thumbsup: in the same place. But over the winter OH put some pieces of cedar offcuts under the ridge timbers and now one is nesting there. I hope she manages to raise them before flying off for the winter :-\ . We now have a camera installed there so I can watch from a distance ;D .
The barn owls raised 2 chicks successfully :excited: and will be leaving soon I guess. I wonder how many hours I have 'wasted' watching them - not that I'm obsessed of course.
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An update on those swallows, I took these pictures this afternoon.
(http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb334/kcooper2011/002-6.jpg) (http://s1200.photobucket.com/user/kcooper2011/media/002-6.jpg.html)
(http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb334/kcooper2011/004-4.jpg) (http://s1200.photobucket.com/user/kcooper2011/media/004-4.jpg.html)
(http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb334/kcooper2011/005-2.jpg) (http://s1200.photobucket.com/user/kcooper2011/media/005-2.jpg.html)
A day or two should see them leave the nest.
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Fantastic
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Beautiful picture.
Read some info somewhere (can't remember where, sorry) that swallows & house martins return to the same place each year. So your original post title could be accurate - they really are your swallows.
It's nice to think that the same 'family' returns every year.
Sue
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To tell them apart:
The swallows only nest in the outbuildings - they don't like to be too close to humans, though they don't mind sharing with the cows.
My house martins nested in four places in the eaves of my brand newly built house, even before teh roof was on - my builders had to chase them away and get the tiles on FAST! But they also nested inside in my old falling apart at the seams stone barn - big double door had huge spaces round it.. Not many swallows in rural Aberdeenshire.
The main difference apart from theri flight pattern is that the swallow has a deep rusty-red chin patch and cream/buff under the wings when in flight. It's tail feathers (V shaped) tend to be a good bit longer too. It has a more defined flight pattern (speedy, and swooping) while the house martin tends to be more erratic and sort of fluttery.
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well for the last 5 yrs we have had housemartins nesting in the barn, now they are definately swallows in the same stable. today we had about 20 swallows chasing a lone housemartin around the garden, which might explain the abandoned nest full of dead chicks.
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Here are ours...
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk76/richardspandit/Old%20Farm/null_zps1b483964.jpg)
Loads of them on the telegraph wires too
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Noticed just yesterday that our swallows have gone. They've been gathering and chitterchattering on the roofline for ages and then suddenly I realised they weren't there anymore. Feels a bit empty without them. I think they always look like they've got white shirts and dinner jackets on. Nature should've designed them with a bow tie too ;D
Talking out of my arse. They're back on the roof this avo. Hurrah!
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The last four swallow chicks have taken their first flights today :excited: and come back home this evening. Will they make south? Luckily the weather has stayed warm for them but there were hundreds of swallows flying over the fields this week on their long journey.
Roll on next summer :D
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We still have chicks in one nest, not big enough to hang over the edge yet :( In past years the last lot have been left behind by the parents, then have set off a couple of weeks later, but I do wonder if such babies can make it the whole way.
We thought our main flock had left, even though it's a bit early for here (they usually go in the middle of Sept) but my OH spotted them joining a big gather up the hill, so they're psyching themselves up for the holidays but haven't gone yet.
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Lovely description earlier on in the post Fleecewife - just like here - get a bit miffed then I get the goats out and have to brush swallow poo off them but on the other hand to see the youngsters grow up, win over the outside cat and fly of - you have to admire them. My mum always notes in her diary when they arrive and depart - I grew up with that - I'm not so organised!! Most of the one's here have left but we still have 2 chicks from the last hatch in the goat shed tonight.
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Ours have all gone too - it's strange how you get so used to them flying and swooping about that it takes a while to realise that they have suddenly all disappeared to a warmer climate! I always feel a bit sad when they go as really love listening to their chit chat when they are sat on the telephone wires above our paddocks. Already looking forward to seeing them arrive back next Spring and I really hope they all have a good flight back home for the winter and that the youngsters make it safely.
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The weather turned cold as soon as they left :(
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Here's ours as babies, and then bigger:
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Lovely photos :thumbsup: :love:
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Well, I thought they had all gone :( .
But right now (19.30) there are dozens swooping around the house like aerial acrobats. It is nearly dark but I think they have been on a feeding frenzy - maybe a last fill up before the flight across the Channel to the :sunshine: . Goodbye lovelies :-* :wave:
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we had loads on our roof this afternoon. where do they go?
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I thought mine had gone a week ago only to feed the goats tonight and one lonley wee sole still about - don't fancy his/her chances but maybe they know best :fc:
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we had loads on our roof this afternoon. where do they go?
As far as I understand it, they fly down through England to the south coast, stopping on the way to sleep, cross the channel, down France and Spain then cross at Gibralter to N Africa. They then make their way right down through Africa, again stopping to roost, until they get to S Africa. I don't think they all get that far. Then they congregate in great flocks in reed beds etc, quite unlike how they live here when they're breeding. They go down there for our winter as we run out of insects here but there's a huge insect-fest in Africa for their summer so they get fat then fly back here to breed again.
Our last little nestful of three chicks have still not fledged :( I think there are so few insects left, and maybe only one parent, that they are not getting enough to eat to reach fledging size. They are hanging out of the nest now so fingers crossed for them :fc:
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haven't seen ours for a few days so I guess they know something and have headed south. sadly missed but I'm sure they'll be back . its getting towards starling time now- not quite the same as a swooping swallow but a "murmur's" not bad compensation.
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Would you believe that today, the last day of September, there are still two swallows here? One is definitely a youngster from the last late fledging nest who we thought had been left on his own when his fellow nestlings went over a week ago, but last night we saw him swooping around with a pal. For the next week the winds are mainly southerly so I doubt they'll set off then as they really need a northerly wind to help them on their way.
Not sure who the second swallow is - maybe another late one from further north.
At least there are plenty of flies around now it's warmer again, so I'm more hopeful that they will survive the journey, if only the wind would turn.
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I wonder if they would survive here for a winter if it was a relatively warm one? I know the last few winters we have had midges/small flies around for most of the winter and so perhaps any remaining swallows could survive on them?
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Interesting question. Has anyone had overwintering swallows?
I'm sure they would not survive here as we can be cut off for several days under several feet of snow, blizzards, high winds, torrential rain, and the swallows would need to eat every day, but I had wondered if they might stop off in Europe or North Africa and not try to do the whole journey this year.
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None around the buildings now but last night I saw 3 circling high over the field where I had a bonfire - loads of insects around as it is still very warm.- and maybe the heat from the fire drove them upwards?
If they stay long in parts of Europe they'll be shot :( .
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This is quite interesting... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1115442/Meet-Rambo--tough-little-swallow-forgot-fly-South-winter.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1115442/Meet-Rambo--tough-little-swallow-forgot-fly-South-winter.html)
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This is quite interesting... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1115442/Meet-Rambo--tough-little-swallow-forgot-fly-South-winter.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1115442/Meet-Rambo--tough-little-swallow-forgot-fly-South-winter.html)
Yes that is interesting 8) You can see though how natural selection makes sure that the migrating instinct survives and the 'oh I can't be bothered with a holiday this year; think I'll just stay here' attitude quickly dies out.
Unfortunately the winter temps here can drop to -20C, so ours will need to fly at least partway south.
<<<If they stay long in parts of Europe they'll be shot (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/Smileys/default/sad.gif) .>>>
Isn't that horrible Bramblecot :o Whatever do they find to eat on a swallow? Or is it just for fun? I always wondered how many larks were used to make a larks tongue pie for some rich Victorian to gobble up :rant:
Last night our single remaining swallow was flying around with three others, so it looks as if the tailenders have decided to get together here. Still no northerly wind forecast.
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'Whatever do they find to eat on a swallow? Or is it just for fun? '
Probably just for fun :( . Years ago I remember a great uncle saying they used to net sparrows on the farm to make a casserole :P . He said it is surprising what you will eat if you are starving. We have all got a bit soft (thank goodness). And I remember seeing blackbird pate on the menu in a french restaurant (in England).
Bit off topic, babbling on, sorry ::) .
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Flecewife I think the cold will be here 15 th October been good so far next week end looks ok .Did look for you on saterday iv got a list with folk I would love to meet .
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Hi VF. Some one told me you were looking for me, and I'm sorry we didn't meet up. I was mostly with my sheep or taking a high speed look at everything else. I never did get near the poultry though, or even the goats :( I was wearing my TAS Tshirt, but mostly under the white coat. Next year :thumbsup:
Well, my last lonely swallow finally left a couple of days ago. He went in a north-westerly, but hopefully the forecast northerlies will get him across the channel.
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All our swallows have gone now. It makes my little girl really sad when they are all lined up waiting for the off. She actually sheds a little :'( .
She is waiting to see her first swallow of spring already. ;D
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Yesterday I noticed just how many pied wagtails we have around - I think these must all be from the breeding pair that nested in our shed this year. I was concerned that they would be like the swallows but on reading the RSPB website, I see that pied wagtails are actually resident in most parts of the UK all year. Phew, that will give me one less thing to worry about where the wildlife is concerned.
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We find that the Pied Wagtails try hard to have their broods before the swallows arrive, as for some reason the two species fight. I have often seen swallows dive bombing young wagtails if they sit on the roof.
A couple of days ago we had our first ever grey wagtail (which is yellow ::) ), but only one. It came to explore our new(ish) pond :thumbsup:
We haven't seen a wren here for three years now :(
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Our little wren seems to have disappeared this year too - she always nested in the garage but not this year :(
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We have always had wrens here and have seen as many as 10 wintering in the nest above the tack room door. We have not seen one for a few months now though
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I have not seen any all summer ??? . There's a north wind today but it is still warm and sunny. I saw just a few swallows high over the fields - probably the last for this year.