catkom3 Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 Anyone else notice a distinct lack of Swallows this year,??Where I live in Kinross in Central Scotland,I have not seen a single Swallow,a few out in the country,but very few,there would normally be hundreds around here now,they usually start appearing mid April,followed by Swift's mid May,not seen any of them at all,??? Regards Joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.watson Posted May 27, 2019 Share Posted May 27, 2019 Same down here in Essex Joe, seen one bird, that’s it. House martins are nesting on the farm house in large numbers though. Last year the swallows went from here very early.......second week of September, a good 3 weeks from when they usually leave. Chris packham will no doubt blame British farmers for the swallows demise, not the people shooting them on the continent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
844john Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Sorry to hear that Joe. The swallows arrived early here this year in the last week of March, and to be honest there's probably as many as we've seen for a few years. They're nesting in all their usual byres and sheds, shi**ing all over the machinery underneath, but it's nice to see and hear them as they swoop around catching insects....they truly are the acrobats of the sky! You're right Chris, we as farmers are to blame for the demise of everything in the natural world in the eyes of some people, with no care or consideration for anything else in the countryside. But as I start my morning routine of feeding and checking the stock, I take a deep breath and enjoy the perfume of the May blossom that the hedges are laden with, and listen to the chatter of the swallows and the call of the Curlews and Lapwing, the whirr of the Snipe, and the gorgeous sound of the many songbirds led by some very noisy blackbirds and the beautiful melody of the Skylark........and I remember that people like Chris Packham aren't always right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithy Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 We don't have as many as we usually have ,I make a puddle in the yard for them to get there mud from and watch them swoop down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FendtFarmer Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Hardly any returned to ours in yorkshire, nests have being taken over by mostly chaffinches and bluetit’s, odd yellowhamer as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 hell of a lot of house martins down this way this year , but not so many swallows yet , there is a first for us, loads of goldfinch and bullfinch arround in the harden , never seen a gold in the garden in 20 plus years living here, and only the odd bullfinch . now we see them more than the blue and coaltits we normally have loads of . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catkom3 Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 1 hour ago, Tractorman810 said: hell of a lot of house martins down this way this year , but not so many swallows yet , there is a first for us, loads of goldfinch and bullfinch arround in the harden , never seen a gold in the garden in 20 plus years living here, and only the odd bullfinch . now we see them more than the blue and coaltits we normally have loads of . Strange thing with the Goldfinch's Sean,I usually have 40 - 50 on my feeders every day,but for the last few days only the odd one or two,more sparrow,( which I don't often see) on the feeders also last May time,I saw 2 Bullfinches,1 Male 1 Female for the first time ever,not seen them this year either,?? Regards Joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbo Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 I did read somewhere recently that a lot of the Swallows have been trapped/netted over Spain for food. I am not sure how accurate that is is as I don't think that there would be much worth eating on such a small bird even if the netting was even legal. I would have to agree that there are significantluy fewer this year, Swallows, Swifts and Martins are all notably absent. We do seem to have a plague of Magpies which might account for the lack of small songbirds around. I had a Blackbird's nest in the bushes at the front of the house but one morning I heard the parent birds screaming and looked out to see a Magpie plucking the chicks out of the nest and swallowing them but hey, if Chris Packham says it is OK then it must be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mb86 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Swallows arrived here on time, maybe not as many as usual but still a good number swooping around the yard in and out the old stone byres. Don't get me started on that idiot Packham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithy Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 I read on the computer on some other site that in Cyprus they was putting some sort of glue / sticky stuff on trees to capture the birds ,not sure if they was eating them or just killing them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dm434 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Heard a cuckoo this morning while walking to the yard . Ain’t heard one for many a year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
844john Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 After my earlier post, I took notice of the swallow numbers here today and we certainly had more a month ago than we do now, seems strange that they have disappeared, never known that before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mb86 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 1 hour ago, 844john said: After my earlier post, I took notice of the swallow numbers here today and we certainly had more a month ago than we do now, seems strange that they have disappeared, never known that before? Don't think there is any less here than arrived last month. 4 hours ago, dm434 said: Heard a cuckoo this morning while walking to the yard . Ain’t heard one for many a year Don't just tell us half a story David, what time was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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