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I was expecting the Swallows to be a bit later arriving this year due to cold easterly winds but now there's been warmer winds from the south and still no sign of them here in Shropshire I was hoping that members who live in more southern counties might have had some arrivals?

We have a lot of swallows nesting in the stables at the livery yard where we keep our horse - over the past few weeks we keep finding dead adult birds in the stables (about 3 - 4 a day!) They look a bit pale (as in their colours are a bit faded) Anyone any idea what is happening to them?

Could anyone explain to me why these birds cruise at diffeerent altitudes on different days? It used to be said that, if they were flying low, it was a sign that rain was to be expected. Do they catch different insects at different altitudes or are the insects they prefer to be found at differnt altitudes...

Hi, I am chairman of my local Scout Group. We need to build an extension onto our headquarters building for additional storage space. We currently have a 'garage' which has metal grill doors on both ends. We plan to 'brick up' these ends to create an internal storage room and re-build...

We have had a swallow's nest in our front porch for several years, and each year the swallows return. Sadly, last year the babies disappeared from the nest overnight which was upsetting. Finger's crossed the adults will return again this year and will have a successful breeding season. Great...

These had nested for the first time right above my back door last year, it took the two parents a few attempts at building the nest but in the end they got it!! they had 4 young which all grew very quickly, The strange thing was, once the had all fledged they kept coming back and built another...

Hello, i am about to convert / renovate an old shed, which swallows have nested in since i have lived here (10 years+). I know the best answer to my question is 'leave the renovations until autumn'... sadly this isn't an option. when the work is finished, the builder is leaving an opening...

We live in mid-Cornwall and the swallows arrived about a week ago. During the last two days the swallows have started to divebomb us on our field making very loud chirping noises! It is actually very intimidating. I am fearful for my two small children and do not wish to endure this for the whole summer...

Just wondered if anybody had an explanation! Normally I have 3 pairs of swallows that breed every year in my stables, 1 or 2 lots each year. This year, the swallows arrived as usual but didn't appear to be raising many young. One old nest that they were re-using collapsed and the eggs smashed so...

Can anyone tell me why swallows scream when flying at high speed? Is it because they are playing; trying to scare each other; or does it work like some sea creatures' (eg dolphins) echo location for their food? It's been particularly noisy this year as we have about 12 - 15 (probably 3 or 4 families...

Yo Nola Screaming Swifts aren't feeding. That's just a communications thing. A lot of screeching goes on during Swift disputes about who owns what crevice. It is more about advertising presence. Swifts do feed (and do most things) on the wing. The particular altitude they fly at is influenced...

We have got a nest of 4 Swallows chicks in one of our sheds, and I discovered today that Wasps are building a byke (nest) behind it. The Swallow nest is in an old garden riddle which is jammed into the roof truss, so it's impossible to get to the Wasps without disturbing the Swallow chicks. I'm...

I agree, it would be best to leave them to it this season, as distressing as it is natural competition for sites occurs all over the world. You could consider putting up some artificial nesting boxes for both the sparrows and the swallows , if they have lots of alternative nesting sites the competition...

Hi All Just to add to this, it was not actually the ash from the volcano that interupted birds normal migration, it was the northerly winds that were blowing the ash. Usually summer migrants fly to the UK on south westerly winds but a northerly wind can hold things up. It does appear that in many...

Hi everyone Do any of you have swallows nesting in your area? They nest at my house most years over the 26 yrs I've been here in North Lincolnshire and arrived this year very early on 30th March. At first they showed all the signs of getting on with breeding straight away ie male singing whilst...