…I hope mine are coming …
…eventually
Darn it! A barred owl was in the indoor arena last night hooting away (it’s attached to my stalls). Found down and feathers from some bird it obviously got last night, but it wasn’t a swallow. I hope my guys don’t leave.
I found my old plastic great horned owl, from when I had a pigeon problem years ago, in one of the sheds and stuck it in there to maybe fend them off.
The swallows don’t go in the indoor, so they won’t see it. It’s the barred owls that go in the indoor (last year would roost in there during the day if empty)…then raid the stall side of the building, where the swallows reside, at night.
Boo hoo!
2Dogs does the Welcome Swallows dance:winkgrin:
Just this morning!
A Scout did a flythrough.
There are 2 of last year’s nests still up, but one was used by sparrows this Fall (after swallows had left).
Keeping fingers crossed for some returnees!
Oh yes: Midwest here - only a handful of days over 50 to date.
[QUOTE=sid;8125228]
Darn it! A barred owl was in the indoor arena last night hooting away (it’s attached to my stalls). Found down and feathers from some bird it obviously got last night, but it wasn’t a swallow. I hope my guys don’t leave.
I found my old plastic great horned owl, from when I had a pigeon problem years ago, in one of the sheds and stuck it in there to maybe fend them off.
The swallows don’t go in the indoor, so they won’t see it. It’s the barred owls that go in the indoor (last year would roost in there during the day if empty)…then raid the stall side of the building, where the swallows reside, at night.
Boo hoo![/QUOTE]
that might be a fairly even trade, in terms of the varmin control the owls provide (assuming they don’t dine mostly on swallows).
The swallow numbers are increasing here each day. Even though there are still TONS of last years’ nests free for the taking, this does not stop them from all trying to claim the same one
Still none here at my barn just NE of Kingston ON… we finally have had decent weather for a couple of days so I am hopeful they will be here by the weekend.
My grandughters lesson barn is 20km south of here and I saw some there yesterday 
Still just the one here.
I haven’t seen her back in the barn again, but I have seen her on the telephone line and swooping in and out of one of the run-in sheds.
The run-ins are really the best place for them, protected, and no cats!!
had a pair checking out my back porch this morning - Winnipeg, Manitoba
…still waiting, waiting…but saw a hummingbird yesterday and the pink chestnut tree is just popping into flower.
I often wonder about the crazy-long migration that some species do. Seems like an irrational waste of energy? I mean, there are plenty of bugs and roosting places in, say, Missouri, so why not just stop there? Why fly all the way back to Canada every year? I read that they’ve adapted their preferred nesting sites (used to be caves, now it’s all human-made structures), so why not adapt their migration patterns. I guess it’s just too primal an instinct-- the unlucky ones who are born in Canada can’t make a rational choice, they just have to go back to Canada while their Missouri cousins get to fly half the distance.
[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;8129189]
that might be a fairly even trade, in terms of the varmin control the owls provide (assuming they don’t dine mostly on swallows).
The swallow numbers are increasing here each day. Even though there are still TONS of last years’ nests free for the taking, this does not stop them from all trying to claim the same one [/QUOTE]
Well, I’m happy to report that my fake owl plan for indoor arena worked…can hear the Barred Owls owls in the woods behind but they won’t come in the barn. They have plenty of crayfish to eat in the creek. Saw crayfish in their “pellets” last year.
And within 2 days of putting the plastic owl in the indoor, I went from 1 pair of swallows (2 pair left when the barred showed up), to about 10 pair. :yes:
Doesn’t hurt that a real Great Horned is hooting away at night on the other side of the farm.:lol: The next enemy to deal with is the stupid crows who fly in early a.m., once babies are born and pick them out of the nest. Hate them.
They’re here!
Just north of Kingston, ON
Three or four swooping in and out, up and down, the barn aisle.
Looks like they’re going to use the same old nests again.
[QUOTE=Fred;8129271]
Still just the one here.
I haven’t seen her back in the barn again, but I have seen her on the telephone line and swooping in and out of one of the run-in sheds.
The run-ins are really the best place for them, protected, and no cats!![/QUOTE]
Same thing happened here! I only saw one, then a pair for a about a week. Since then, more have arrived but still not up to our full number yet! The weather seems to be evening out, so that may help.
Still anxiously waiting here in Nova Scotia. It is supposed to warm up this week but with the winter we had, the snow is just barely gone (gulp) so am happy they have not yet arrived. I will be doing the happy dance at the first sighting!!! The first ones arrived on May 3rd last year so suspect it will be a few more weeks. You can guarantee that I will be posting when I spot my first one!!!
Still no tree sparrows here yet. I did see barn swallows at a barn a little north of here but they are not nesting in that barn yet.
Whidbey Island, WA…first pair a couple days ago and now am hearing a number of pairs chattering away…
[QUOTE=tucktaway;8132111]
Same thing happened here! I only saw one, then a pair for a about a week. Since then, more have arrived but still not up to our full number yet! The weather seems to be evening out, so that may help.[/QUOTE]
Same here, I was working in the barn yesterday, and heard that lovely, familiar chattering - there were some in the run in shed attached to the barn.
In the late afternoon, when I was bringing the horses in, there were suddenly! those little midge flies - and SWALLOWS swooping in the air above me.
Oh happy day!!
Got my 1st Residents!
PM barncheck, switched on the lights…
And got “read” by one very annoyed female swallow - she was in the sparrow-borrowed nest I mentioned earlier.
I had seen the male earlier in the day - scoping out the old nests.
Unfortunately she also caught the interest of my barncat.
The 2 nests are placed where even rafter-walking kitty can’t get at them.
Hoping to see the pair this morning.
Can’t wait for Fledgling Flight School 
Saw two male Swallows today, diving around the paddocks. Nice to see them, hope they stuff themselves on the nasty little black flies making it impossible to talk to the horses without eating some bugs! They may be little flies, but they bite hard, horses were getting scabby, so now they have night time turnout instead. Still a bit cold at night, but everyone is happier without the bugs chewing on them.
They’re here, they’re here, they’re HERE!!! Oh happy day!!!
They have moved into the main barn now - 2 pairs - reclaiming old nests from previous years.
I am so happy to see them, but worried about a couple of the barn cats going after them.
