I had 3 or 4 pairs show up last week in southwestern, ON 
Hoping they make it through the season… darn cats are getting better each year.
Ours came back earlier this month. My barn owners don’t like them in the barn, saying they “make a mess”. Personally I don’t mind them in the barn, but I don’t want them nesting under the gooseneck of my trailer again, I lost a month of trailering last year. They do have two large equipment sheds and the indoor that they can use.
Hope you tell your barn owners to forget the mess. They serve a very real purpose to barn owners with live stock that suffer from insects and the disease they can spread. Flying bug eaters have a symbiotic relationship on a farm. We should be grateful for them (beyond the fact they are amazing in flight and so freaking cute!)
i love watching them swoop into the barn.the light fixture, that 2 nests are on,died a week after they came back this year.the boarders are all good waiting until they are gone before i replace it,even though it is in the tack up area! i plugged in a trouble lite,and it works for now.
In southern Maine, we have a pair nesting in one end of the barn. Hopefully they will stay and bring some friends with them next year. Fortunately they are not accessible to the cats.
There are two pairs in the barn here, 40 miles NW of Boston, near the NH border. I just noticed them swooping around last week, not sure when they arrived.
We are down to 12 nests this year in the barn, 2 in the indoor and 2 in the sawdust shed - wonder what happened to the rest.
Man they are noisy this year!! Some are building and chattering, some are finished but defending their nests but have the usual 15-20 pairs. I knocked down a number of old old nests last month - the ones they have not been used in 2 or so years. I assumed they were not up to standard and am glad I did because they are rebuilding in those areas. I loved to watch them as I groomed and tacked up and missed seeing the baby progress so am thrilled they are now rebuilding.
I strangely had two pairs of cliff swallows move in last summer and build their nests in the barn too. The barn and cliff swallows co-exist well but the shape of the cliff swallow nests are bizarre. They are wide and flat and have a very small opening. The cliff swallows do not have the forked tail of the barn swallows but are just as adept and swooping and flying. Anyways just wondering if anyone else has cliff swallows setting up their households in your barn.
Well, I’m totally bummed. I only had about 4 pair. I’ve locked down the barn to protect them from the Barred Owls that live down by the creek and devastated my 33 pair a few years ago.
That worked last year (6 pair only came back from the 33 pair from the years before).
Not this year, I’m afraid. They seemed to be able to sneak through a small opening between the adjoining indoor arena. In a couple of days I found the remnants of two adults swallow feathers in the aisle. Then, one of the nests pulled down and 1 dead hatchling on the ground.
Now they’re gone for good. The first time in 23 years I’ll have no barn swallow babies. I used to think owls were cool…now, not so much. Especially having rehabbed swallows and babies for decades. The cutie pies.
I miss them already. Too quiet around here. Boo hoo.
not a swallow in sight here but there are some in town. I miss them terribly
There are quite a few swallows that came to the barn where I keep my horse and I feel quite privileged to have a pair nesting in my stall. I love them!
I find it quite sad that there are some at my barn that don’t like them and do what ever they can to prevent them from nesting. At least this year they’ve only destroyed nests that are in their stalls or above where they keep their stuff and not in the common areas.
They have hatched! We have babies! Oh, happy day!
Fred - I am jealous!
Soon you’ll have Flight School to watch.
Soooooo CUTE!
My visible pair are still setting as far as I can tell.
I’ve seen both Mom & Pop on the nest in the barn rafters, but no babyheads poking up… yet…
There are more nests in my indoor, but at rafter-height in there too high for me to keep an eye on.
Today I’ll be mowing & expect my usual escort of swallows 
Still no hummingbirds at my feeder :grief:
My senior Swallows didn’t come back this year but I’m sure one of the kids did and brought a mate.
I say this because they had a heck of a time figuring out nest building - to the point we bought wood Barn Swallow nests and put them in the barn rafters.
Shortly thereafter, a nest they had built and tore apart a few times suddenly got constructed.
The female would sit in there from time to time but not enough to let me think there eggs.
Two days ago, I saw a baby head peeking over the nest and the parents feeding another one. There are at least two new babies - born late but they’re here:)
We have four new Carolina Wrens in my tool knapsack in the garage. They were born well ahead of the Swallows and are quickly growing out of their nest.
We have so many Purple Martins, DH may have to put up a fourth house next year.
Lastly, those sorry Starling’s tried to build a nest for several weeks behind the two big barn doors. We kept destroying the nests, they finally moved on but not before they left crap running down both barn doors and DH had to Clorox them and the outside wall between the two big doors.
Anyway, I am really sad my senior Swallows didn’t make it back but thrilled one of the kids found their way back with a mate and they now have two little ones, maybe more:)
Our first batch of babies are up and gone as of a week or so ago. Mama is sitting
on a new batch of five eggs. Saw four in the last batch but only three little ones.
Methinks this is a new mom and dad as I took the nest down that had gotten covered in spider webs. This pair built on the other side of the door on the wall.
Better the poop over there but couldn’t see the action as well. Last week, part of
new nest in the old spot went up but didn’t get completed.
We only have one pair…one year we had two but then only one pair after that.
They make their nest by the back door and not the barn…sigh!
Well, I’m happy to report there are several pairs that have nested with babies way out on the “back 40” on top of the light figures in run in sheds. Yay!
A few returned today inspecting their destroyed nests in the big barns, maybe considering over. They do produce more than 1 brood annually. The only “homing” device they have to breed (where they were born) is here in the big barns.
I’ve decided to leave the barn fully open so if owls swoop in they can see them coming and get out. They are faster than owls for sure.
Keeping my fingers crossed. Even if they vacate the barns, I’m glad to see they have nested in my 9 run in sheds around the farm. Good deal.
I saw a broken egg shell on the floor underneath one of my nests today … so I ‘think’ a baby has hatched
I need a step stool and a mirror to actually look into the nests… they’re all high up on beams, right at the ceiling… but I wont disturb them for a few days.
I lied…I do have swallows, but none around the house. Noticed some flitting in and out the barn when I took water down. Still missing 2 pair, but they are not all gone
The second batch has hatched out this week. There were five eggs when I peaked a few days ago…now only one but some dark little lumps and getting
dive bombed by a swallow air force when going out on the back porch.
[QUOTE=BasqueMom;8714607]
The second batch has hatched out this week. There were five eggs when I peaked a few days ago…now only one but some dark little lumps and getting
dive bombed by a swallow air force when going out on the back porch.[/QUOTE]
Wow! We’re on round one here, some quite new, some pretty far along, but no flying lessons yet! Multiple nests in all 4 barns, so a good showing this year.
