Fewer swallows this year.

Falcon L

Last year I had 3 pairs of barn swallows nesting in the barn. There were 25 to 30 flying around, nesting locally. This year I have only 1 pair in the barn and there are about 10 flying and nesting locally.

The 3 nests are still intact since last year and the pair are using one of them.

Any reason for the low numbers this year?

Desmo

Cant be certain but Spring has been dreadfully late this year and the prevailing wind direction has been very tough on incoming migrants.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Temperatures are down in May and insect numbers correspondingly low. Early days yet. Swallow numbers around the bog and river here are as normal. Breeding may be delayed by a week or two.

serfspup

have had swallows nest every year since 05 but looks like none this year they returned and checked nest site but have not settled.It is just to cold and windy,no clouds of st.marks flys,very few bumble bees or butterflies,

feargale

Hardly surprising given this awful month of May. I haven't seen a swallow yet nor have I heard the cuckoo. I think last year was the first in my life that I heard no cuckoo,

OBaoghil.7

Falcon L wrote: »

Last year I had 3 pairs of barn swallows nesting in the barn. There were 25 to 30 flying around, nesting locally. This year I have only 1 pair in the barn and there are about 10 flying and nesting locally.

The 3 nests are still intact since last year and the pair are using one of them.

Any reason for the low numbers this year?

I just love the Swallow. It is beautiful. I posted earlier this month that I too thought the numbers were down. I have secure farm buildings that allow the swallows access. I see swallows usually returning in April and this year they were very early. The first 3 arrived on the 7th April. However, only 6 as a total have returned. This is very low compared to previous years and the good number of 43 that left here last year. We do not know what weather they encounter on their journey back or on there way here or what the changes to conditions of their habitat elsewhere may be having on them. All I know is that it is sad that so many have failed to return this year. Fingers crossed the few that here have a good summer and many young.

Squidvicious

OBaoghil.7 wrote: »

I just love the Swallow. It is beautiful. I posted earlier this month that I too thought the numbers were down. I have secure farm buildings that allow the swallows access. I see swallows usually returning in April and this year they were very early. The first 3 arrived on the 7th April. However, only 6 as a total have returned. This is very low compared to previous years and the good number of 43 that left here last year. We do not know what weather they encounter on their journey back or on there way here or what the changes to conditions of their habitat elsewhere may be having on them. All I know is that it is sad that so many have failed to return this year. Fingers crossed the few that here have a good summer and many young.

I find the swallow an amazing bird too. For all our technology, we can't invent anything with the natural manoeuvrability of the swallow and I could spend ages watching them.

On Monday, a few swallows spent hours flying around our garden. They're not frequent visitors to us, but Monday was such a miserable, windy, rainy day that they were attracted to our garden as it is quite large and surrounded by old trees which gave the flying insects that the swallows feed on some shelter. Monday must have been a tough day for them so I hope they got some feeding in our garden!

Half-cocked

Not seeing as many Swallows as usual in my area this year (Baldoyle, Co Dublin). But driving through Blackrock, Co Dublin, yesterday evening I spotted large numbers of Swifts feeding. There must be some suitable nesting sites in all the older building around that area.

Gaspode

Only seeing 10% or less of the usual numbers of house martins/swallows ans swifts so far this year. Hopefully its just the weather holding them up.

Falcon L

Four babies fledged today! Flight training has begun in earnest.

OBaoghil.7

Falcon L wrote: »

Four babies fledged today! Flight training has begun in earnest.

That's great! We now have 14 swallows from the 6 that came back in April. Let's hope they can recover the numbers a bit this summer?

Birdnuts

Seen the first broods out and about last week around Blessington

my3cents

I put up a ledge inside a barn 10 years ago as I wanted to get the House Martins to nest higher up where the cats can't get them. Normally they nest in the sheds which make them easy game for cats. Anyway 10 years on and finally they have used the ledge to nest and raised a family. So thats two nest that have fledged one from a shed (I put a collar around the main beam to keep the cats off) plus another lot from the new site in the barn.

What does seem to be missing this year are the Sand Martins that nest along the beach from me. The Sand Martins were around but just where they nest one local farmer has had 50-60 goats in the field and the goats were constantly out on the beach were the Sand Martins nest so I think that might have put them off.

Plenty of room in the barn so when I can get the scaffolding out again (its about 20ft up) I'll put up some more ledges.

Falcon L

They're back on the nest again! Second clutch?

That would be a fantastic result if so.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

More than eighty swallows and thirty house martin over the garden today. Breeding seems to have been excellent this year so far.

my3cents

Harold Microscopic Vasectomy wrote: »

More than eighty swallows and thirty house martin over the garden today. Breeding seems to have been excellent this year so far.

Well I'm glad they're somewhere, we have hardly seen one since the two nests here fledged and no sign of a second brood this year.

Birdnuts

Found a new nest with eggs in one of the sheds on my place in North Mayo last week. Seems to be a first brood for this pair. Not sure why they are so late but the weather there this summer has been wretchedly cold and wet. Also heard a very late Grasshopper Warbler calling just down the road in recent nights, so strange times indeed

Pretzill

The swallows that come here are down on last year - we normally have 3 to 4 new nests in the barn, a couple or more in other outhouses and at least one nest in the coal shed.

This year I have only counted 3 breeding pairs. So I reckon not all made the journey back - over the years I have seen lots particularly after brooding, sometime two rounds of chicks too.

But perhaps it's just the ones born here last year went somewhere else.

Another thing I've noticed (someone better at birding than me might know) is a high pitched call very close and repetitive which I figure is a bird of prey couple - yesterday I saw what looked like a sparrowhawk hanging in the sky and heard the high pitched call from another bird high up on a tree in the distance. Now even with binoculors it was hard to make out colour - could be kestrel/ or hawks.

As fabulous as it is to know they are near would they put off returning swallows?

Zoo4m8

Swallow numbers rise and fall often for no obvious reason. Ours are on their second hatchings and have even used a shed that hasn't been used for years but next year that could all change.

They certainly won't let the presence of birds of prey put them off except maybe in unusual cases, for instance some years ago a sparrow hawk learned that flying through the sheds was akin to takeway, she just picked youngsters off the rafters at will. That year very few had second clutches..
In the evenings here all the swallows congregate in the sky over the yards in the last of the sunlight and seem to make a game of hassling the newly arrived kestrel from sky to tree and back again,

The noisy bird of prey you are hearing sounds like a young buzzard, there are a couple from the nest beside me not too long fledged and the racket can get irritating .. while the youngster calls incessantly there quite often is a parent in attendance floating not too far away, maybe this is what you are seeing and hearing.

Pretzill

Thanks zoo - yeah I didn't really think a hawk would deter them from picking a nest and like you I have seen swallows challenging hawks in flight - trying to scare them off! Perhaps (correct me if I'm wrong) isn't it only the male offspring who come back to the exact spot? - maybe it was mostly females born last year and they settled elsewhere.

We have a lot of barns and spaces for the swallows - but this year - there are few new nests -

On the buzzard theory (would love it to be a nesting pair) I have never seen a buzzard up this way (south Sligo) and these looked smaller but yeah the calls are continuous (so could be chicks) - have had sparrowhawks over the years and seen a peregrine falcon last year but never a buzzard - would love to know a couple of any bird of prey were nesting nearby though. Will keep an eye and ear out! Thanks again.

Falcon L

I could live with the birds of prey. Last year I lost 2 swallows to a feral cat. :mad: (four wings on the barn floor are all that was left)

A few weeks ago I woke to find the cat perched in the hole I have left in the door to allow the swallows access. Now the opening is smeared with nice black grease. The swallows aren't fussed at this as they pass through at about 50kph, but the cat hates that stuff on her paws like you wouldn't believe.

OldRio

Well to be honest we have had great success with the swallows this year. In the main hay barn we had two nests occupied for the first brood and now a further three nests are occupied for the second brood.
Further nests in the stables and cow brier.

The best year for successful fledgling we have ever had.

Also a greater number of young robins about. Lovely to see.

tisgrand

We had four pairs nesting in our garage nine years ago and it gradually became one pair for the last three years. That said they successfully reared two broods of five to six chicks each year regardless of what the weather was like. This year the local swallows returned several weeks later and for the first time not a single pair nested here. There are far fewer nesting in the farm buildings nearby and perhaps just a dozen youngsters flying around the property this morning. There would normally be several times that number this time of year. I think a drop in numbers may be more to do with losses in Africa, or on migration than numbers of chicks being reared here or our weather patterns.

Falcon L

The second brood of 3 chicks has fledged this morning. They look cold.

I now know what I'm doing today: chasing feral cats and watching novice swallows in training.

feargale

I haven't seen a swallow this year.What a "summer"!

OBaoghil.7

OldRio wrote: »

Well to be honest we have had great success with the swallows this year. In the main hay barn we had two nests occupied for the first brood and now a further three nests are occupied for the second brood.
Further nests in the stables and cow brier.

The best year for successful fledgling we have ever had.

Also a greater number of young robins about. Lovely to see.

We too have had a great year but to be honest we usually do. The problem we have found as in last year, is the number of birds that fail to return. 43 left last year and only something like 6 returned.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

OBaoghil.7 wrote: »

We too have had a great year but to be honest we usually do. The problem we have found as in last year, is the number of birds that fail to return. 43 left last year and only something like 6 returned.

I know there are issues with migration losses but do keep in mind that all species lose considerable numbers over a winter. Look at the number of House Sparrows at the end of the breeding season versus the number at the start of next year's season.
The breeding adult numbers of swallows is holding it's own around here for the past decade and slightly up this year.

Falcon L

Sad sight today. Many hundreds of swallows flying over the house all day on a southerly course.

I wish them a safe journey and hope to welcome some of them back as guests next year.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Falcon L wrote: »

Sad sight today. Many hundreds of swallows flying over the house all day on a southerly course.

I wish them a safe journey and hope to welcome some of them back as guests next year.

They may have been going south but I don't think there is any mass migration yet. They could just be going to feed at a site south of you. This could be miles away or just a few hundred meters.

I must say I don't find their leaving sad at all. I enjoy the satisfaction of another successful year and the sight of Nature changing seasons.

Falcon L

Harold Microscopic Vasectomy wrote: »

They may have been going south but I don't think there is any mass migration yet. They could just be going to feed at a site south of you. This could be miles away or just a few hundred meters.

I must say I don't find their leaving sad at all. I enjoy the satisfaction of another successful year and the sight of Nature changing seasons.

No, this was definitely a migration flight. They were going over all morning. If they're feeding south of me, there must be a bit of seagull in them.

My lot left about a week ago.

The sadness is purely selfish, I'm afraid. I love having them around the place and will miss them so much. What a beautiful bird!

Pretzill

I am also sad to see them go - though I love the changing of seasons I prefer the change of season on the swallows return!

Mine seemed to have flown too - saw many flying about the last couple of days.

feargale

Surely it's well time for them to go. Incidentally when exactly do they arrive? April? May?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

feargale wrote: »

Surely it's well time for them to go. Incidentally when exactly do they arrive? April? May?

Roughly first week in April to first in October

Falcon L

Only one pair nesting this year. No sign of any others locally.

Here's hoping there are a few late arrivals.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Very early days yet for any real nesting. Weather has been wrong, but not hugely unusual so far.

Pretzill

Spotted a pair last week - no sign of any building nests just yet - but I'm sure they'll be busy soon.

Lots more than last year around here, near Tallaght

Falcon L

They've done some renovation work on an existing nest. Built a bit of a porch on it.

Meteorite58

I've seen very few so far this year here on the Kerry coast possibly as the predominant winds have been NW'ly

The winds are changing for the better and take a more E'ly direction next week and becoming warmer so maybe more numbers arriving.



Have made two perches ( out of a homemade concrete bowl cut in half) to see if House Martins or Swallows wil use them ?

my3cents

Meteorite58 wrote: »

..

Have made two perches ( out of a homemade concrete bowl cut in half) to see if House Martins or Swallows wil use them ?

My money is on them making a nest on the security light :rolleyes:

Meteorite58

my3cents wrote: »

My money is on them making a nest on the security light :rolleyes:

I'll keep ya posted

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

40+ swooping through the garden right now, in the North East.

my3cents

Had a couple check out an old nest during the week and of course because I'd left a workshop door open for a couple of hours I found one trying to get in when the door was closed.

Falcon L

Harold Microscopic Vasectomy wrote: »

40+ swooping through the garden right now, in the North East.

So that's where they all are.

Can you send a few down to the sunny south east? :P

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Falcon L wrote: »

So that's where they all are.

Can you send a few down to the sunny south east? :P

They've already been there, so obviously they have good taste.

OBaoghil.7

So Far only 2 swallows have arrived back. 43 left last year. Last night my neighbour showed me a dead swallow that had hit her window after flying into the house. My wife is used to the swallows entering the house and has a safe and effective way of catching them and releasing them without harm. Sadly, this happened too quickly for her to help. Today only one swallow is left here. I am so sad. I think of all the miles and the dangers they endure and survive and this happens. I hope more are still to come for the lone swallow.

Woodville56

First year in memory no returned swallows to our farm sheds this year ( so far) . Some in the area ok but none of "our" birds made it back it seems ??

Falcon L

Two more local birds arrived yesterday. So, there's hope yet.

dodderangler

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Lots more than last year around here, near Tallaght

Was out hunting in bohernabreena yesterday evening and seen a ridiculous amount around

OBaoghil.7

Woodville56 wrote: »

First year in memory no returned swallows to our farm sheds this year ( so far) . Some in the area ok but none of "our" birds made it back it seems ??

OBaoghil.7

Falcon L wrote: »

Two more local birds arrived yesterday. So, there's hope yet.