Barn Swallow Blog

Se soir je vous envoye des photos que jai construit pour la protection de la vie Ali

The Barn Swallow is here in our tiny town of santo. tomas, Philippines, they come here from october until march..

It is just a matter of time with the orphaned baby Barn Swallow, keep feeding cat food and/or raw mince, it should take flight in a few days, it is not too late.
Hang in there.

Best Wishes

Sadist Thing
abondoned / orphan Barn Swallow chick, its mother was found dead on the ground just outside the nest, with one Barn Swallow chick left inside,this happened a couple of days ago.It seems fully grown,& devoured a bit cat food I gave it & keeps poppong its head out of the nest when we go around to it... soooo cute!

How will it fly now? Is it too late? all the other swallows & chicks are gone!

Any advice please anybody?

thanks
Helen

100 nids installée chez nous pour les fenêtre 2009 2 nids 2010 1 nid 2011 5 nids occupée ali

Hi Angie and all (as they are wont to say in KZN). I am pleased to read that the reedbeds are regenerating, and that my prediction that there was problem with the reedbeds is what was causing the swallows to relocate.

We are looking forward to having them back in the UK, my first birds were seen yesterday, but at the same time I am keen to see where they roost once the return to SA.

We are looking forward to a good summer, hope your winter is not too severe.

Regards

Trevor Snyman

Yesterday morning I saw three swallows on the wire outside my house so I was delighted. Then in the morning I cleaned their room, which is a large entrance/cloak room, then I put news papers down every where and opened the door. I did not hear them at all in the day, so supposed they were feeding! Luckily the farmers have let their cows out here, so soon there will be flies! Also i have a pony and two llamas! At dusk I closed the door having looked inside and saw no swallows. I was not looking properly because in the morning there was one in there waiting to fly out, so its all go! We have very warm weather here at the moment which is exceptional at this time of year, we could still have some very cold weather!!
They arrived 17 days earlier than last year!

Chez nous au-dessus de notre ferme 3 a 4 hirondelles rustique , je suis comptant elle sont arrivée

Amazing sight, been living in Durban for over 50 years and did not even know about this spectacle.
Thanks for taking us around to Froggie Pond view site. We eavesdropped on your conversation and learned a lot about the birds. Pity about the thumping music at the Lake Victoria site, just did not blend in with the natural phenomena.

I am lucky enough to have swallows making their nests in my house! There is a large entrance room which they use and are safe there; I open the outside door early in the morning and close it at night. I put news papers around and buckets under any nest so it is not too messy at the end of the the season! I do hope they return this year as I love their cheery voices, so next month I shall be listening out for them

Hi,
Many were spotted in Italy last week and this week we have individual spotings all over France. Numbers are to arrive yet, but the sun is shining and the temperature has warmed, so all is ready.

Hi Jayne
Your sighting of Barn Swallows on wires is very comman at this time of year as this is typical behaviour of pre-migratory or during the migration period. The swallows are storing energy or building body fat for the long flight they are about to undertake.
Yes, this is an awsome sight to see such great numbers together.

We had a most unusual sighting at approx 13h00 today - masses of Swallows perched along the electrical lighting cables in the street we live in on the Bluff. It is now just after 14h00 and they are still there. Perhaps someone can explain this ... what a sight to see!

Hi,
The first swallows have been signted in the south and west of France. Everyone is waiting patiently for more arrivals.
Best regards to you.
Marc

Please help/explain..... 23rd february 2011.
The beginning of this Summer two swallows arrived at our front verandah porch and started building a nest.
The nest was completed and eggs were laid... We were deighted when we saw a baby chick stick it's head out of the nest. But 2 days later the parents disappeared - The chick we saw was definitely too small to fly. The parents were gone +/- 10 days.
Yesterday they re-appeared. They flew around the nest but never entered. Then as quickly as they arrived they were gone again and we have not seen them since. I can only conclude that the chick was abandoned. Is this possible. Also the many swallows that flew around the area also left and returned the same day as the parents. They too have now gone.

In the case of the missing chick, is it possible that Gecko's could possibly be involved? Perhaps eating the chick?
Thank you for any replies. We look forward to seeing them again next year on our porch.

So pleased found this site and all the interresting comments. Address given to me by Trevor Snyman. Will write again to mention how many nesting swallows I have in small barn this year. There were 29 babies last year that flew and I wondered how many would reach South Africa and return again. I live in West Wales UK and been having swallows nesting in barn for eighteen years. Little picture on Trevors blog showing one group last year if you would like to view it. Peter

I must comment on the comments of Marc Piel regarding ringing. I am, or have been, a bird ringer for a very long time. In my time as an active ringer, I ringed many different species, many, many different individuals. Whilst Marc is correct in saying that placing a ring on a bird is not natural, without ringing, many discoveries about bird behaviour and bird biology, would not have been made. Since this is about swallows, my best example of usefulness of ringing can be seen in the discovery of swallow migration between Britain and South Africa. Go to the News section of this site, look up an article link to my story about swallows to learn what happened. Ringing does not harm birds. The long lives that they live after being ringed, proves this. From my own experience, a simple Black-eyed Bulbul that I ringed as an adult, was still alive 12 years after I ringed it, and could have lived on for many more years.

Hi Angie,
So glad to see that your beautiful birds are back.

It seems here that rain has a bad effect. Maybe you could start a log noting such things as: rain, density of rain: length of raining, direction of wind, different flight paths according to weather, n° of planes, etc... Maybe some pattern will come out of it and be useful.
Best regards, Marc

NB: I have always been worried about "ringing". I know it can possibly provide inside information, but it is not natural, either to be captured for it, or to have a ring around your leg. How would you like to have someone oblige you to have something around your leg, and you don't fly.

Hello Angie,

For readers who do not know me, I was involved in the assessment of impacts of what has now become the King Shaka International Airport, at the time when there was a proposed airport, and a site, and little more. I produced bird lists, visited the site regularly, and submitted early reports on the swallows in Mount Moreland etc, so my history goes way, way back. I now live in the UK, but remain interested in the fate of the swallows and the roosts at Mount Moreland and the areas surrounding it.

As it is with all things natural, you and the experts who are looking at the variables that could be affecting the swallows, will have to take a "best guess" at what is causing them to move away. Given the scant information that I have about the situation there, I would plump for the rainy weather being largely responsible for changes, but you cannot rule out subtle effects of changes to the structure and biology of the reedbeds. The weather in KZN often affects birds badly. I can recall at least two periods in the last 10 years when persistent rain in the province not only affected the usual patterns of bird movements and occurrence in KZN, but also killed them in big numbers. They are aerial feeders, and will obviously go where the food is.

My view on these things is a simple one. I ask, "what do the birds need in an overnight roost?" They need the security, as much as a reedbed can offer, of the site as a place to sleep. This "security" is obviously determined by the things that biologists can measure, eg, density of the reeds, height of the reeds, ie, the spatial things that make a swallow feel secure. They also need safe access and exit to and from their over-night roost. All birds do, and if the access is disturbed, they could avoid the spot. This could be a one-off, or if it happens too often, could become a routine. The effect of the aircraft could be a major factor.

You ask if the reedbeds have ever regenerated themselves before. The answer is yes, many times of which I am aware, and from different pressures. I am sure that they will do so again. I am encouraged by the fact that the birds are still in the area, even if it is not at the Mount Moreland site. I am a little worried that all of the attention, including ringing activities, could be the thin edge of the wedge. My natural inclination is to suggest a curtailing of human involvement to the minimum necessary to monitor the site. This could be short-term, or who knows, but whatever or however long it takes to get the birds coming back. The site is for the birds, and we owe it to them to do everything we can to make the place welcoming again.

Regards
Trevor Snyman

Hi Angie
We spoke a while ago about swallow activity on Mount Edgecombe Estate. On some evenings there is a great deal of swallow activity, sometimes the swallows circle and fly so low that one brushed the top of my head when I was watching them in my garden. It looks as if they may be looking for a suitable roosting site as there is a large reed bed just below my property, but as yet I haven't seen any of them land there.

What an honour!!!! We have had swallows returning to nest on my patio for 7 years now! I just finished speaking to Andrew Pickles whose involved in the ringing of the swallows and he said that it is most likely the same couple of lesser stripe swallows that have come back! They returned this year as 3 adults- perhaps one of their babies from last year? The patio that their nest was on has since become a sunroom so they took to building a new nest from mud in the corner of the opposite patio. What a wonder to watch them do this from the start of spring (October)....and now I awaken with the the twitter of the little babies that have since hatched....people should learn from these swallows....men have as much house-work as the women!!!

I spent the week-end at my sisters beach cottage at Blythdale Beach, near Stanger. The cottage is situated near the Mvoti river mouth, with a lake. Every evening just before sunset, thousands of Barn Swallows were seen flying towards the Mvoti river mouth. I think they were obviously going to roost in the reeds..This could be the answer to their disappearance from the Airport.
Shane 0825518058

Hello I m called Ali, I am passionate about swallows like you.
I studied the bird for 3 years now, I'm still very young in the field, I've learned a lot.
I am a friend of Mark on the group swifts.
Let's talk about your problem, a big part of the swallows who remain in Central Africa and a part that goes down in South Africa.
You say that there were lots of swallows before Christmas and then abruptly no more swallows. They are always there but they are far from where you are and they will return safely.
I've had a case here in Belgium, in September.
For 15 days we no longer seen as one two three nests still occupied but everyone thought that they were already gone to Africa and suddenly Sept. 20, about 16 hj saw a cloud of swallows pass over his farm, it was magical and they turned into the yard.
What is more bizarre, a few were around nests or there were births.
My way of feeling things that c is always with you, be patient they will come back Ali

I am pleased to present our Yahoo group of discussion :

http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/jardinrwhich main reason of being is : welcoming and protection of wild life, almost birds, including swallows, and swifts...Almost discussions are in french but several read, write and speak english.
We would be very happy to discuss common subjects with you : how to help those birds to maintain their future close to our home !
And if we can be of some help for you, do not hesitate to contact us.... Friendly. Danielle

Hi Angie

The cause of the current problems must be fully investigated and if it is proven that the departure of the swallows was due to their habitat being polluted then those responsible must be prosecuted.
Some year ago I wrote a slogan for wildlife in South Africa.
'Conservation the only plan the next endangered species is man'.

I will raise the awareness of the current situation with all my business associates worldwide.

Keep up the good work

Best regards

Don

Hi Angie

Just to let you know that I have mailed your notice to the Danish Ornithological Society.
Here in Denmark we are worried . It could be "our" Barn Swallows who now desperately needs a new place for the Danish winter.

How sad if these birds have been driven away by lowflying aeroplanes. Once something like this is lost it can never be regained