Mine are thinning in numbers as well. I suspect the last group will be gone this week.
Strange thing this year, I have three nests of cliff swallows -had one nest last year. Their nests are a very different design but they seem to cohabitate well with the barn swallows. Any one else have cliff swallows nesting in their barn?
we have cliff swallows under the eaves of the house…the ‘drop out of the nest’ design is kinda cool!
Sorry I have not read the whole thread, but we have barn swallows, very happy, here in Western Mass.
wow!!! major swallow convocation last nite, and have seen hardly any today. guess they took off south.
hopefully they make it through the smoke ok…
we had 35 - 40 ish here last week.now not a one in sight…
I think they are gone here too…was so windy the last couple of days, not even the pigeons from the next farm over were flying, much less smaller birds. Will take note when I go out in a bit
They are gone. Going to miss that cheery twittering just like I do every fall.
we had swallows in the barn as usual, nests occupied, babies galore…
Not a single one in sight on Saturday!
Mine have been gone for about a week. I miss their swooping in and out, up and down the aisle.
However, I do not miss scraping the poop off the aisle floor under the nests…
Still have a few stragglers here, but I believe they are packing their bags and getting ready for their long trip south.
i miss them eating the mosquitoes!!! worst year in awhile!
My last family left yesterday. The other families left a little over a week ago, this was a late brood.
Yesterday morning all 5 were swooping around the paddock area. Yesterday afternoon I didn’t see any around and last night the barn was empty. 
A definite sign of the end of summer, the barn is so quiet without them.
Safe travels to them…it was a rough year for swallows in my barn this year. Lost a lot of babies, most to nest mites.
Ours are gone too. I was not as happy as usual to see them this year because they nested under the gooseneck on my trailer, keeping me off the road for a while. Next year I’ll be ready, I’ll duct tape pool noodles to the nesting edges 
Mine left a few days ago. I’m happy to say, by shutting my big barn doors and door to the adjoining indoor, from where the barred owls raided them so bad last year, and so few returning, that seemed to stop the problem this year. .
Though I was down from 30+ nests last year, I had about 7 pair that did return this year and 2 broods of babies. So hopefully, the numbers will go back up next year.
I did find feathers in the indoor several times from something they had gotten (they seem to want to perch in my indoor to eat)…but they were not swallows. Looked like mockingbird feathers to me.
The barred owls are very clever, but at least I managed to keep them from raiding my swallows again.
Sad when they leave…miss their chatter, acrobatics and bug control. The dread of winter coming. Blech.
[QUOTE=sid;8287944]
Sad when they leave…miss their chatter, acrobatics and bug control. The dread of winter coming. Blech.[/QUOTE]
Exactly!
I just have a few left. One family returned this evening; the babies went straight to the nest and everyone chattered on about the adventures of their day. I’m savoring the sounds
Ours are all gone.
We had a wonderful year for swallows. In my main barn I had 4 nests with 2 crops each, and in each run in shed, more nests.
Last week, the final babies fledged, and it was glorious, I stood out in the pasture, with them swooping and chattering overhead.
And now, silence.
And winter is around the corner.
Fly safe, babies, come back next year!
On a positive note, we have a lot of goldfinches this year, so I am happy about that. And families of cardinals and blue jays!
Question: Typically, I do not remove the nests after they’ve gone and they just do “repairs” when they return in the spring. Though I did about 8 years ago and they just started over (I have a pond they use to get their mud so they can build really fast).
But with the reference to “nest mites” in a previous post, I’m thinking maybe to take them down this year.
Swallow gurus, what do you think?
[QUOTE=sid;8297378]
Question: Typically, I do not remove the nests after they’ve gone and they just do “repairs” when they return in the spring. Though I did about 8 years ago and they just started over (I have a pond they use to get their mud so they can build really fast).
But with the reference to “nest mites” in a previous post, I’m thinking maybe to take them down this year.
Swallow gurus, what do you think?[/QUOTE]
I just knock down the ones that aren’t being used the next season. I figure they know if they want to reuse them or not. But I am no Swallow guru.
It’s really amazing how fast they can build a nest. Every year I have been meaning to set up one of our foaling cams and set the recorder to time lapse while they are building.
Mowed one of our fields yesterday. Down to around 30-50 circling over/around me.
Our Swallows left over the weekend. They were very busy Friday, husband did chores on Sat. And Sun., and there were no swallows on Mon. Hope they have good traveling weather. I already miss them swooping around , but will settle for watching the evening Bats looking for dinner. Saw a Hummingbird, so they have not left yet.
I will take down one nest right above hay storage, try not to let them rebuild there next year. I was only gone 8 hours, having removed nest starts there 2 days in a row. Nest was done, she was sitting in it when I got home! I may put some Sevin dust (small dusting) in the other nests for mite control next year. Those nests are not in problem locations. They did well raising babies, so am hoping for more birds returning next year.
I’ve seen only female hummingbirds recently, so I wonder if the males have left already.
[QUOTE=sid;8297378]
Question: Typically, I do not remove the nests after they’ve gone and they just do “repairs” when they return in the spring. Though I did about 8 years ago and they just started over (I have a pond they use to get their mud so they can build really fast).
But with the reference to “nest mites” in a previous post, I’m thinking maybe to take them down this year.
Swallow gurus, what do you think?[/QUOTE]
You do not have to take the nests down because of mites.
We had mites in two nests, which killed the second batch of the offspring.
I contacted our wildlife animal rehabilitator. She advised to use diatomaceous earth powder. You should be able to find it at TSC, Coop, and other places or online.
It is safe to use in nests, even when swallows are between babies and you want to make sure, there will not be mites in the second batch.
Otherwise, clean the nests and sprinkle it over and around them, when they leave.
One of the products is sold in a yellow bag.
I would not use Sevin. It can be rather toxic to birds.
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