Non-motoring > Swallows	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: devonite	Replies: 53

New Thu 16 Sep 10 00:55   Swallows - devonite

Sigh! - mine left this morning at 09.15 - how long before they`re zipping between the wildebeast? - Here comes "back-end" :-( Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 16 Sep 10 05:22   Swallows - Ian (Cape Town)

ETA at my place on Sunday, then? I'd better wax the car beforehand. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 16 Sep 10 09:11   Swallows - Tooslow

I've not seen ours for a few days (North Cheshire). Didn't realise they checked out! Ours just do a runner. John Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 16 Sep 10 09:17   Swallows - Ian (Cape Town)

But is it an african or european swallow? Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 16 Sep 10 10:16   Swallows - Badwolf

One swallow doesn't make a summer. But it certainly makes your day... :-) :-) There are still quite a few winging around our way, and a few house martins too. It depresses me each year when I realise that I haven't seen a 'summer migrant' for a week or two. Then I know that the dreaded winter is on the way. There is one bird-based compensation with winter though - we get a lot of pink-footed geese round our way and the noise they make as they fly over reminds me of winters (and Christmasses) past and makes me feel all nostalgic. Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 16 Sep 10 19:25   Swallows - Tooslow

I must listen more closely to the accent next year. John Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 16 Sep 10 19:30   Swallows - R.P.

They were lined up on a telephone wire by the lake here today, some were doing circuits and bumps the others watching.... Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 16 Sep 10 19:42   Swallows - Kevin

>I must listen more closely to the accent next year. You don't need to hear them. You can tell by the unladen airspeed. Kevin... Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 08:15   Swallows - L'escargot

There are still swallows here on the Lincolnshire east coast. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 08:51   Swallows - Zero

thats seagulls. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 09:14   Swallows - R.P.

Correction, they're cut and shut seagulls, resprayed a nice two tone and let loose. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 09:31   Swallows - Zero

Is that why they leak fluids? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 10:34   Swallows - Bromptonaut

House martins were still around earlier in the week but the seem to have vacated the nest. Two clutches this year which is an excellent result. In too many years they've been evicted by sparrows. Nest this year was a 'new build' so hopefully they've managed to build in a way that makes it inaccessible to the spuggys. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 10:50   Swallows - Iffy

...Nest this year was a 'new build' so hopefully they've managed to build in a way that makes it inaccessible to the spuggys.... Hope they got a 10-year guarantee as well. To be serious, will they use the same nest year after year if left unmolested? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 11:55   Swallows - Zero

Yes they do, patching up if required. If you knock the nest down they may or may not come back, if the nest is there they will. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 11:57   Swallows - Bromptonaut

>> To be serious, will they use the same nest year after year if left unmolested? The nests are certainly re-used. Whether by the same/related individuals I do not know. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 12:01   Swallows - Zero

you dont check the passports? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 14:24   Swallows - Bromptonaut

While out for an hour or so this morning saw a couple of swallows (on passage?). Looks as though our martins have left in last 48hours. Something lurking in next door's walnut tree making a high pitched tzeep tzeep call. Can't see the blighter at all. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 17:52   Swallows - Armel Coussine

Still quite large crowds of house-martins in southern Brittany, but the weather is getting a bit fresh and they seem restless. Doing their packing perhaps. I imagine the ones in Languedoc and in Spain are still enjoying a late summer hol. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 18:22   Swallows - Tooslow

Until the French shoot 'em and eat 'em. Grrr! John Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 18:26   Swallows - Ian (Cape Town)

Empty headed animal food trough wipers. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 18 Sep 10 18:24   Swallows - R.P.

Saw only one down at the lake doing aerobatics, watched by the Swans and their family. The Swan's cygnets are growing fast, there brownish down rapidly being taken over by their white plumage. I've known them since they were eggs ! Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 19:01   Swallows - R.P.

Reminded of this today - the day I posted that here, there was an old local guy by the lake, he showed me a sprig of holly with berries on it and speculated about an early harsh winter - spot on. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 19:04   Swallows - Harleyman

It's usually a good guide, the hawthorn trees round here have been absolutely full of berries this year, and the rowans up in the mountains simply magnificent. Minus 9 down here tonight, according to the Beeb website. I shan't be going outside to verify it. Last edited by: Harleyman on Sat 27 Nov 10 at 19:05 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 21:06   Swallows - rtj70

Surehly some of this is down to a good spring? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 21:08   Swallows - Zero

the good spring is only down to a previous hard winter....... Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 21:11   Swallows - rtj70

All I was saying was the berries are because of the spring and summer that faced just passed. I was not linking the spring to last winter as that was not relevant. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 21:33   Swallows - Harleyman

Didn't say it was infallible, merely a good guide. It's a bit of country folklore, and as with most things like that there's usually a grain of truth in it. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 21:36   Swallows - Zero

they never had the met office in the 1800's Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 21:57   Swallows - Crankcase

Certainly they did. 1854 officially it started. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 22:03   Swallows - rtj70

When those birds migrated over early this year from somewhere it was a sign it got cold there earlier than usual. But if it got cold where they were early then maybe it was a sign it would be a bad winter. I say it's global warming ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 27 Nov 10 23:04   Swallows - Leif

>> I say it's global warming ;-) For what it's worth, this year is on track to be one of the hottest on record. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 28 Nov 10 00:03   Swallows - rtj70

I said global warming instead of climate change on purpose. It's not climate change. :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 28 Nov 10 08:29   Swallows - smokie

Try telling 'em in Sennybridge or Loch Glascarnoch that's it's warming... "In Loch Glascarnoch, in the Highlands, it was -15.3C (4F), and in Sennybridge, in Powys, it was -14.3C (6F)." Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 12:35   Swallows - Bromptonaut

Summer migrants arrived round your way yet? Seen Swallows this year and at least one Swift. There were House Martins around the nest on Friday but doesn't look as though they stayed. Maybe just squatters passing through. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 12:37   Swallows - Duncan

Not so many cuckoos though? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 12:54   Swallows - Bromptonaut

>> Not so many cuckoos though? Might have heard one the other week while cycling near MK. The one place I've heard and seen them most is on the Isle of Lewis. Very few trees there; usual host species is ground nesting pipits. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 13:01   Swallows - devonite

Yep! - mine arrived back on the 21st April this year, usually its the 22nd! but last year they were back very early on the 2nd. Me thinks flying among Wildebeests would be better than here at the moment! Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 13:12   Swallows - Dog

Yep, and cuckoos (cuckoo, cuckoo) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 15:43   Swallows - R.P.

Noticed the first swallow yesterday - I swear I heard the cuckoo before Easter...... Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 16:33   Midwife toads - bathtub tom

I heard the first midwife toads last week, they drive some people mad! Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 17:01   Ducklings - Runfer D'Hills

Loads of newborn ducklings round here all of a sudden. Canal towpath behind our house is swarming with them. Keeping our dog persuaded that they are not snacks is proving a bit of a challenge ! He's not actually taken one yet but I know he's contemplating it... My voice is hoarse ! Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 18:13   Ducklings - MD

Swallows and Martin's here. Also Ducks have appeared in the garden. Nice site. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 18:14   Swallows 2012 - Harleyman

First swallows seen about a fortnight ago, somewhere round Builth Wells. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 20:41   Swallows 2012 - Dutchie

Haven't seen a swallow.We have some noisy starlings nesting under the corner roof tiles again. Blacbird nesting in one of the conifers.Live goes on. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 6 May 12 21:09   Swallows 2012 - WillDeBeest

Saw my first swifts yesterday, mixing it with the passing Typhoons over Chalfont St Giles. Not seen any at home yet, but the weather's been keeping me indoors in the evenings, which may be the reason. They used to nest - hopefully still do - under the eaves of our previous house, and it's a favourite moment of the spring when they return. I got a little thrill in March last year, seeing swifts from the window of my Johannesburg hotel, thinking about the uncomfortable (to me) journey I'd had to get there, and comparing it with what they had ahead of them. We do have green woodpeckers nesting in the ash tree two gardens away. Great view from an upstairs window of them enlarging an old hole - you could see the chips flying off the wood as they pecked. They seem well settled now, so we'll be watching for fledglings in the next few weeks. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 7 May 12 09:02   Swallows 2012 - MD

How's the 'Greyhound' these days Sir Beest. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 7 May 12 11:42   Swallows 2012 - nyx2k

we've has several swallows nesting in the eaves this year and dating back the last 5years. we have many man made boxes up and have all been occupied this year with various breeds of bird Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 7 May 12 12:40   Swallows 2012 - WillDeBeest

Martin, I fear I've misled you into thinking I'm more than an occasional visitor to the Chalfonts. I was in CSG for the afternoon, to play cricket (brrr) and the Greyhound appears to be in C St Peter. Next time I'll make a point of stopping to check it out. }:---D Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 7 May 12 12:49   Swallows 2012 - Runfer D'Hills

I went to a Burn's night at the Greyhound in Chalfont St Peter once. Swallowed a few as I recall, by way of returning to the topic... Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 7 May 12 18:14   Swallows 2012 - Cliff Pope

Swallows are back in their old nest today. It's in the garage roof just over the windscreen. I'll have to re-rig the aerial defences and deploy the barrage fertiliser sack to catch the droppings. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 8 May 12 05:32   Swallows 2012 - MD

Peter it is of course. It's the Pheasant at Giles. Cheers........ Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 9 May 12 10:10   Swallows - DeeW

Amazing sight at Blashford Lakes near Fordingbridge on Saturday.. The air above the water was filled, and I mean filled, with swooping, feeding swallows. Never seen anything like it. The dinghies were surrounded as they raced and one of the sailors said it had been like that all day. A wonderous sight. Last edited by: DeeW on Wed 9 May 12 at 10:11 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 9 May 12 11:01   Swallows - devonite

Possibly caused by a "hatch" of Mayfly! Reply to this message | Report message