Swallow, swift and house martin populations have halved-

Wed 29 May, 18:01

(by the way Flora, that link just took me to a mischievous sales site with cookies.. could you check it?)

Wed 29 May, 17:58

To my dismay I note that this is the first year that there have been NO swallows at all over the river. Every other year they have arrived between the 15th and the 21st of April, and even though they haven't nested with us for the last 3 years, they have appeared in numbers from all over and performed their aerial ballet over the water, swooping and skimming at dusk or chirriping on the telephone wires, mingling with the swifts and turning with the sunset into bats. This year not a single one.

I am reliably informed they are nesting elsewhere in Charlbury but I haven't seen or heard, not for want of looking. Even the swifts, who I've seen still in numbers in the skies in other bits of Charlbury, are shunning the river this year.

 How could the swallows know as they set out from Africa that the Evenlode is now barren of insect life? Or did they pay a fleeting visit that I missed and set off for somewhere warmer? I'm afraid any number of migration units or nesting cups may not tempt them back again..

Thu 23 May, 21:45 (last edited on Thu 23 May, 21:52)

Or think about a mitigation unit for swallows if you're converting a barn and taking away their nesting site, and fitting nesting cups in the unit. Swallow nesting cups are different from nesting cups for house martins, 

https://housemartinconservation.com/artificial-nests

Fri 17 May, 17:14

Don't forget to specify swift bricks if you're having an extension built etc.

Thu 16 May, 21:23

Lots of swifts swooping and screaming at the top of town as well. Always good to hear. 

Thu 16 May, 20:26

Well this evening we have a load of birds that look like swifts/swallows/martens zooming into our eaves.Very agreeable.

Thu 16 May, 20:18

Swallow, swift and house martin populations have nearly halved, finds UK bird survey

When we first came here with the infants, Church Street was skreeling and echoing with the sounds of Swifts, Swallows, and a handful of Martens. I once scaled the roof of a one-storey extension on Thames St…

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