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Author Topic: This year's swallows  (Read 18711 times)

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #30 on: April 24, 2020, 08:36:35 am »
Plus our first cuckoo yesterday  :)


Followed by my first midgie bite!  :-[
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #31 on: April 24, 2020, 01:15:37 pm »
Been a strange winter,  loads of midges round for ages, in fact any mild day during winter I've seen swarms of them, not biting though.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #32 on: April 24, 2020, 02:03:43 pm »
Well seems that the swallows here a couple of days ago have decided the goatshed is not up to standards anymore... haven't seen them since, even though weather is fantastic?

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #33 on: April 24, 2020, 03:42:36 pm »
We have had 2 lots who seem to have arrived, spent some time in the barn and gone again.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #34 on: May 01, 2020, 09:25:08 pm »
Still no swallows here! I am getting quite worried. We did see a pair flying about today, but not near the goathouse or the field. We usually have three or four nests in the goathouse alone!

mab

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • carmarthenshire
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #35 on: May 01, 2020, 11:24:56 pm »
one's shown up here and is doing nest maintenance; i have seen another flying around but am not certain it is the mate of the nest builder or not...

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #36 on: May 02, 2020, 11:18:38 am »
Ours seem to have been and gone  :( .


Just wondering.
Last year I don't thing the second brood hatched, or didn't make it, I remember her sitting, but no babies lined up on the bars trying test flights.
If anything is left in the old nest would that put them off the barn completely?
First year no swallows :'(
Nest is way up at the top, on girder at centre of barn we can't reach it to look in.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2020, 12:08:28 pm by Penninehillbilly »

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #37 on: May 02, 2020, 11:53:57 am »
I would think that swallows are unlikely to abandon nesting at the place they know.  They are though likely to abandon a particular nest.  There could be any reason for this, including that bees, wrens  or something similar have taken over the old nest.
They could well be choosing another nest site and are starting to build.


We have three pairs here now and one pair have very excitedly decided on a new nest in a lean-to.  Frustrating for us as this was the year we intended to demolish it  ::)


We usually knock down any nests in the poultry houses during the winter, because swallows and hens share red mite as a pest, so if the mites overwinter in a swallow nest, then any nestlings are likely to be overwhelmed by the blood suckers.  We also knock down nests which have been predated, because predators have long memories and would just come back the following year - making the swallows choose a different site and rebuild from scratch seems a good move.  Also predated nests have usually been half destroyed anyway.


[member=3211]Anke[/member] don't give up yet!  Our swallows arrived late last year, well into May, but still managed two broods each.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Rupert the bear

  • Joined Jun 2015
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #38 on: May 02, 2020, 08:22:09 pm »
the majority of ours were late last year, still more to come yet ,I hope as only 12 here but nesting already.
Fleecewife; interesting about knocking down predated nests , I will keep that in mind for next year.
Anke; its early yet, keep the faith.

Rupert the bear

  • Joined Jun 2015
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #39 on: May 14, 2020, 01:45:11 pm »
Making my day , the first swallows have had a hatching  :excited: :excited: :excited:

arobwk

  • Joined Nov 2015
  • Kernow: where 2nd-home owners rule !
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #40 on: May 14, 2020, 08:44:37 pm »
Making my day , the first swallows have had a hatching  :excited: :excited: :excited:

Hatching ! - I'm still scanning the skies in hope.  (And still no cuckoo from a cuckoo either.)
« Last Edit: May 14, 2020, 09:56:18 pm by arobwk »

Penninehillbilly

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • West Yorks
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #41 on: May 15, 2020, 12:34:09 am »
We had some move in about a week ago, I didn't dare put anything on here because when I did before, they left.
Hope these stay, think they've built a new nest or renovated a very old one, not the one they've used the lsst couple of years.

Buttermilk

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #42 on: May 15, 2020, 09:14:34 am »
No housemartins here yet this year.  Lots of cuccoo noise though.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #43 on: May 15, 2020, 12:37:07 pm »
We have never had a cuckoo within hearing distance here in 25 years, and hardly any house martins :(
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: This year's swallows
« Reply #44 on: May 15, 2020, 06:33:08 pm »
We have never had a cuckoo within hearing distance here in 25 years, and hardly any house martins :(
Same here, no cuckoo (we have been here for over 13 years now), but the first pair of swallows is deciding where top build/revamp a nest in the goathouse. Only one pair though?

 

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