Barn Swallows Daily Log 2010-2011 Season

 All Swallows have departed for Europe, not a swallow in the sky this evening.
All swallow spectators went to Froggy Pond viewing site and, confirm, no Swallows.
* Swallow season now closed until late October.
Angie Wilken signing off, thank you to all spectators and swallows supporters, it has been an incredibly exhilarating, learning and exciting season.

Weather: Terrible day, overcast, cold and strong Southwesterly wind.
Stayed home, could not see the swallows, possibly because the small swallow mass may have displayed left of my line of sight, will check tomorrow. 

 Weather: Clear day, strong Northeasterly wind.
I viewed the swallows from home. First swallows arrived 5.36pm at very low altitude and they flew up and down over Froggy Pond almost surveying their roost for the night.
Only a small swallow flock remain, maybe 1000 in number.
Skies clear 5.46pm.

 Weather: Clouded over from lunch time, cold, Northeasterly wind.
Stayed home and viewed the skies in anticipation and to my surprise we still have swallows, they came in extremely low 5.30pm onwards, a small flock, maybe a thousand, amazing, couldn't see round the corner the number may be higher. More bad weather is the forecast. 
Skies clear 6.46pm.

 16-04-2011
Saturday

 Weather: Torrential rain from lunch time, dark, light Southwesterly wind.
Stayed home and viewed the swallows arriving at 5.20pm. amazing to see that they are still here despite the odd weather. I could not see the display from home, but still lots of swallows here.
Skies clear 5.45pm.

 Weather: clear, crisp day, strong Northeasterly wind.
Relocated all swallow spectators to Froggy Pond viewing site. First swallow arrivals 5.45pm. very strange display, swallows came in low hugging the landscape and trying to avoid the chilly wind by using the hillside as a barrier. Barn Swallow numbers depleted considerably from last night. Bad weather from the west is forecasted for tomorrow, I wonder if this will bring the last flock of migratory swallows up with it? Until then
Skies clear 5.57pm.

 Weather: poured with rain most of the day, a definite chill in the air, no prevailing wind.
Wet, dark, cold and muddy conditions, I went to the swallow site and watched swallows feeding over the grass at 5.10pm. swallows appeared to arrive at low altitude. I went home as weather was miserable, nice show of swallows over Froggy Pond. I wonder if they will leave earlier this year due to weather conditions?
Skies clear 5.55pm.

 Weather: overcast, dark, intermittent rain, light southwesterly wind.
It was raining but went to Lake Victoria viewing site and directed swallow spectators to Froggy Pond. First swallow arrivals 5.20pm. I went to Froggy Pond viewing site 6.45pm. there was mist rain but the swallows were there in huge numbers and not perturbed by the weather. An awesome display.
Skies clear 6.03pm.
* continued working on Froggy Pond site clearing with the bulldozer and began cutting viewing terraces, due to wet weather all is very muddy.

 Worked all day with a bulldozer clearing Froggy Pond viewing site.
Weather: Overcast, dark, strong southwesterly wind.
Met swallow spectators at Lake Victoria viewing site, swallows started arriving 5.10pm. It started spotting with rain so I relocated all spectators to Froggy Pond viewing site, for the very first time we could site on the site due to clearing earlier on, it was so enjoyable. Swallows arrived en-mass, Roy Cowgill saw a Marshal eagle on eastern skyline, swallows gave an early and spectacular display.
Skies clear 5.58pm. The heavens then opened and it poured down.  

 Weather: Very overcast, dark, looked like it might rain, light northeasterly wind.
Swallows were arriving from 5pm. led all spectators to proposed Froggy Pond viewing site. Barn Swallows arrived and massed by the thousands, the sky became a mass of movement, awesome swallow numbers, fantastic display.
Skies clear 6.08pm.

 Weather: Very overcast, dark, light southwesterly wind.
Arrived at swallow site and it started raining, I led spectators to Froggy Pond and went home. I watched Froggy Pond skies from my veranda, first swallows arrived 5.10pm masses arrived later at low altitude. Mass display.
Skies clear 6.10pm.
* Heavy rain in the night

 Weather: Clear with patchy clouds, hot, moderate south westerly breeze.
Swallows were around from 5pm. in small numbers. 6.12pm. some more swallows arrived all moving towards Froggy Pond, at 6.15pm we saw a mass swarm of swallows over the gazebo skies towards Froggy Pond. Less than a thousand swallows came in to roost at Lake Victoria the majority went to roost in Froggy Pond.
Skies clear 6.19pm.

 Weather: hot, overcast, hazy, storm approaching from the west, light easterly wind.
Swallows started arriving 5.20pm. at Lake Victoria, the numbers continued to grow to a mind blowing estimated 3 million barn swallows, totally awesome, ages since I have seen such masses. The swallows at Froggy Pond are equally as spectacular in number.
Skies clear 6.26pm.

 Weather: Mild, very overcast, dark, strong northeasterly wind.
Swallows started arriving as early as 5.30pm. over Lake Victoria and to my surprise the numbers kept growing and growing. The swallows were flowing over the Verulam skyline as was the pattern prior to Christmas. I decided not to lead the spectators to Froggy Pond and my instinct was right. What a fantastic swallow display we saw, huge numbers of swallows near and far. I am thrilled to bits that the Lake Victoria roost is once again being utilised by the swallows.
The skies over Froggy Pond were equally as busy with swallow activity.
Skies clear 6.30pm.

weather: Hot, thin spread of cloud, strong northeasterly wind.
Led all spectators to proposed Froggy Pond viewing site. First swallow arrivals 6.25pm. very nice barn swallow mass, binoculars were needed. Hundreds of swallows came flying over our heads and straight down to roost.
Skies clear 6.43pm. 

weather: Hot, clouding over, strong northeasterly wind.
Lots of swallow spectators, led them all to proposed Froggy Pond viewing site. First swallow arrivals 6.25pm. nice mass but low, binoculars were needed.
Skies clear 6.40pm.
5 minutes thereafter we had the low flying, incoming swallows over our heads and straight to roost, magic.
* Went for a cycle and noticed that the water outlet from Froggy Pond into the Mdloti river was bone dry. 

 Weather: Very hot day, clouded over, strong northeasterly wind.
Led all swallow spectators to proposed Froggy Pond viewing site, the site clearing now starting to open up better viewing. First swallow arrivals 6.25pm. masses and masses of swallows appeared, binoculars were needed. Once the mass were in the roost hundreds of swallows came flying over our heads and straight down to roost. I was phoned by a resident next to Lake Victoria and he said that the swallows were there in big number but were heading for Froggy Pond, this is the first time since Christmas this has occurred.
Skies clear 6.40pm.

 Weather: Clear sky, not a cloud to be seen, hot, moderate northeasterly wind.
Lots of weavers again in Lake Victoria. Led all spectators to proposed Froggy Pond viewing site. First swallows arrived 6.42pm, very disappointing show, small flock. Again once the flock had gone, hundreds flew over our heads and went straight to roost, definitely pre-migratory behaviour.
Skies clear 6.47pm

 Weather beautiful day, started clouding over, no prevailing wind.
Lots of bird activity in Lake Victoria, weavers, red bishops, queleas. All spectators were led to proposed Froggy Pond viewing site. First swallow arrivals 6.42pm, small mass followed by hundreds of swallows arriving in waves over our heads and going straight to roost.
Skies clear 6.48pm.
* ACSA radar team confirmed that all swallows are in Froggy Pond, none in Lake Victoria

 Weather: clear blue skies with sunshine, light northeasterly wind.
Very large crowd of barn swallows spectators, big mission to drive in convoy to proposed Froggy Pond viewing site, pulled it off successfully. First swallow arrivals 6.42pm, same pattern as previous 3 evenings, small flock massed and went to roost then hundreds of swallows arrived at ground level and went straight to roost. Again I am led to believe that this is pre-migratory behaviour. It will be interesting to see over the next 2 weeks what happens as the migration is to begin.
Skies clear 6.50pm. 

 Weather: Clouded and started raining. Dark, no prevailing wind.
Stayed home and viewed the Froggy Pond and Mdloti river skies, first barn swallow arrivals 6.40pm. masses of swallows flew up the Mdloti river valley to the Froggy Pond roost.
Skies clear 6.50pm.
* end of fire flies 

 Weather: Beautiful day, light southwesterly breeze.
Lots of barn swallow spectators arrived, at 6.30pm. we all drove in convoy to proposed viewing site at Froggy Pond. First swallows arrived 6.47pm. and in mass they came, binoculars were needed. A short swallow display but well worth it.
Skies clear 6.55pm.

 Weather: Dark, overcast and light drizzle.
I did not go to the swallow site as it was raining, viewed Froggy Pond and Mdloti river skies from home. Swallows arrived 6.35pm. Swallow spectators phoned me from Lake Victoria as there was no swallows, I directed them to Froggy Pond to see the mass display.
Skies clear 6.54pm.

 Weather: rained this morning then cleared up, clouded over again, light north easterly wind.
Sky colour not favourable for swallow watching. Viewed the Froggy Pond skies, swallows arrived 6.40pm and at low altitude, hugging the landscape, one mass display then to bed.
Skies clear 6.56pm.

 Weather: Extremely hot and humid, light easterly wind.
I took the barn swallow spectators to Froggy Pond, first barn swallow arrivals 6.40pm masses and masses of swallows filled the clear evening sky. Brilliant display.
Skies clear 7.03pm.
*Received word from the swallow radar specialists that there are only ±1000 barn swallows roosting at Lake Victoria.

 Weather: Hot sticky, hazy, light northeasterly wind.
Masses of barn swallows arrived at Froggy Pond, first major flocks sighted 6.40pm. awesome display.
Skies clear 7.03pm.

 4-02-2011
Friday

 Weather: Dark cloud bank building in the west, strong easterly winds.
Went and viewed the Froggy Pond skies, first swallows arrived 6.40pm, nice mass swallow display.
Skies clear 7.05pm.

Weather: Cloudy, strong north easterly wind.
Went to the Lake Victoria view site, only a few spectators arrived. I lead them all to the proposed viewing site at Froggy Pond and we all sat in the road and viewed the masses of swallows that performed their evening display. First swallow arrivals 6.40pm, the swallow watchers were thrilled at the overhead performance, lots of late, low flying swallows rushed to get to the roost at the last minute.
Skies clear 6.06pm.

Weather: Blue skies with stratus clouds. Easterly wind.
Swallows arrived over Froggy Pond skies 6.40pm. Spectators could only see the top layer of swallows as some most arrived at ground level and were down in the valley.
Skies clear 7.10pm.

 Weather: Bright day with scattered clouds. Easterly wind.
Swallows started arriving 6.50pm, mass display over Froggy Pond, over a million swallows, spectacular! Spectators viewed from the gazebo.
Skies clear 7.12pm.

 Weather: An interesting blue sky with thick grey clouds, god rays lit the Lake Victoria reed bed, then it rained, then the sun broke through and a rainbow arched over Froggy Pond, westerly wind.
Swallows arrived 6.45pm over both reedbeds but more intense over Froggy Pond. Swallows arrived from all directions and gave spectators a nice sense of swallow presences.
Skies clear 7.07pm.

Weather: cleared up at lunch time but dark clouds reappeared later, light easterly wind.
Mdloti river has risen rapidly and flowing strong, more water than we have seen in along time.
At Lake Victoria swallows arrived at 6.45pm, they displayed alot of interest in the wetland but all flew off to roost at Froggy Pond.
Skies clear 7.10pm.

 18-01-2011
Tuesday

 Weather: Very hot day, light easterly wind.
Had an engagement I could not miss, so I did not view the swallows this evening.

 Weather: Cloudy day, hot-sticky, looked like rain, westerly wind.
Swallows only arrived at 6.55pm, viewed the Froggy Pond - Mdloti river skies. The swallows arrived up from the estuary and down the Mdloti river corridor, over my roof, all heading for Froggy Pond. I did not see a mass display, swallows just seemed fly in and go immediately to roost.
Skies clear 7.10pm
A report in the newspaper indicated that hurricane type weather had passed by only a few Km's just west of Mount Moreland last Thursday (13-01-2011), uprooting trees and blowing off roofs, flash flooding. 

Weather: scorching hot, grey clouds building in the west, easterly wind.
Large crowd of swallow spectators, many overseas visitors. First flocks of swallows arrived over Froggy Pond skies 6.50pm. All spectators moved to the gazebo area for swallow viewing, nice display but needed binoculars to see masses.
Submitted a proposal to ACSA for a viewing site at Froggy Pond.
Skies clear 7.13pm. 

Weather: cloudy with a burst of severe heat of sunshine, wind light westerly.
First arrival of swallows 7.05pm possibly due to brighter conditions. Poor show of swallows over Lake Victoria, all swallow watchers relocated to the gazebo and viewed Froggy Pond skies, had to use binoculars. Swallows there, low almost hugging the landscape, difficult to view.
Skies clear 7.20pm 

 Weather: thick rain clouds, rained slightly at 5pm then stopped. light westerly wind.
Went to the Lake Victoria view site, first swallows arrived 6.40pm then I turned round and viewed the sky over Froggy Pond and the swallows were there in masses. Very few swallows came over Lake Victoria, no flock formation at all. All the swallows went to Froggy Pond and roosted there.
Small groups of swallows flew through at ground level in the final minutes rushing to get to Froggy Pond.
Skies clear 7.15pm

 Weather: sun, cloud with intermittent rain. 5pm dark, thick black clouds, westerly wind.
Started raining, viewed the Froggy Pond, Mdloti river skies.
First swallows arrived 6.25pm in the rain, masses of swallows, heavy rain ensued but swallows continued to gather and mass, brilliant display, skies clear 7.07pm.
Heavy rain continued throughout the night.

 Weather: Hot, sunny day, clouded over at 6.20pm, easterly wind.
Swallows arrived 6.50pm, small flock, watchable, large mass of swallows over Froggy Pond.
Skies clear 7.14pm

 Weather: rained until 2pm then cleared up and we saw sunshine and blue skies, no prevailing wind. High dark clouds moving from the North in a southerly direction
A lovely evening at the swallow site, swallows only arrived at 7pm, small flock over Lake Victoria (not the normal mass), large numbers of swallows seen over the Froggy Pond wetland, difficult to see as swallows arrived very low to the landscape. A disappointing swallow display for spectators. Skies clear 7.10pm.
There was more rain during the night.

 Weather: rained the entire day, thick cloud cover, light westerly wind.
First arrivals of swallows 6.20pm in the rain, did not go to viewing site, viewed Froggy Pond Mdloti river skies. Lots of swallows, they did not do an evening dance - massing together, swallows arrived in flocks and went down to roost on arrival. Skies clear 7pm.
Heavy rain continued throughout the night.

 Weather: extremely hot and humid throughout the day, arriving at view site 5pm weather conditions changed to light westerly wind with black clouds approaching. breeze cooling things down somewhat.
There were swallow sightings for most of the day.
6.45pm swallows begin to arrive in mass thrilling swallow viewers until skies were clear 7.05pm.
Skies were full of swallows over both Mount Moreland reedbeds.
A show of fire flies 7.15pm
Thunder storm and heavy downpours of rain in the night.

 Weather: thick cloud cover, fine rain. I was at Lake Victoria view site but left at 6.20 due to heavier rain conditions. Light easterly wind.
Viewed the Froggy Pond and Umdloti estuary skies. Swallows started arriving at 6.40pm. Different swallow movement, masses of barn swallows arrived from the estuary to Froggy Pond, thousands and thousands, has our normal swallow mass returned?
Large swallow numbers flew over my house towards Lake Victoria, a Mount Moreland resident that can see Lake Victoria phoned to confirm that it looked like the swallows had returned in all their glory. What a fantastic New Years Eve gift.
At least 20 000 swallows went down to roost at Froggy Pond.
Skies clear of swallows 7.05pm.
Heavy down pours of rain until 11pm

29-12-2010

Weather: overcast with drizzle, storm approaching from the west.
Swallows started arriving 6.30pm but only small flock sightings, a larger flock was seen over Verulam skyline.
Disappointed swallow watchers vacated site 7pm, then a flock of ± 400 swallows appeared at 7.10pm and did their evening display, hard to say if they went down in Lake Victoria or the banks of the Mdloti River.
Some swallow movement over Froggy Pond but no mass display.
8pm fierce thunder storm with heavy rain. Flash flood.