Barn Swallow - First Brood Chicks
By Risto Jäntti
Photo By Janne Taskinen
Almost all the first barn swallow brood chicks are on the
wing; just one nest is still having chicks and I think in a week they will be off the nest. Then there are a
couple of strange nests which are too late to be traditional first-brood nests and too early to be usual
second-brood nests. I have thought a lot about it and I think I have now found a possible explanation: they
could be technically second-brood nests after the first brood has for some reason failed for instance due to
predators, heat or falling down of the nest. Maybe it could be called a "repeated nesting", "compensation
nesting" or something? I think that is what happened at my aunt´s farm this summer: she was so sad
because there was no sign of swallows there but then out of the blue a swallow pair appeared towards the end of
June and started nesting. Her summer was saved. It seems in this case the swallow pair must have left
the original nesting site and moved to another during the nesting season.
So far I have noticed 5 possible second-brood nests, but that
figure is just an estimation, because swallows may seem to be bustling around a certain nest although in
reality they are not really nesting. Anyway, I am expecting many pairs to nest twice. An
interesting thing is that at least two pairs have made a new nest for the second brood, that is not common,
because there are so many old nests available that there are nesting seasons that all pairs use them and not a
single new nest is made.
Luckily, the hot weather has cooled down, no more 30 deg C but 20
to 25 deg. That is bearable to me. Unfortunately, at least one swallow pair lost the chicks because
of the heat; that is less than I feared.
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