Swallow nests

Never mind illegal, it would be immoral to knock the nests down! What does it matter...flying around and some poo piles here and there...it all washes off and I am sure the horses do not mind. I have several nests in my stable as they come each year...this year they are right over where my horse stands to eat his hay so he usually has poo on his back in the morning...does it really matter...no!
As others have said, they are lovely creatures, doing no harm at all and just want a few months home to do what they need to do to breed and survive...the babies in my nests are already taking practice flying sessions so will be gone soon I am sure.
 
We normally have 5 pairs of swallows but this year only 2 pairs have returned! I love to see them, they fascinate me! I love seeing the little babies peering over the nests too! In one nest two either fell out or got pushed out and died, so there was 3 remaining. I looked this morning and they'd gone! Hoping to see them later flying about!! We've got a buzzard too, which was lovely to see and hear at first but he's dive bombed me a few times, not quite as nice as when the swallows do!! Beautiful bird though!
 
I love seeing them, I was getting a bit worried wondering where they were before they got back...relieved to see them :)

I knock the nests down when they go away again, they insist on building them on light fittings and I cant use the lights while they are here (fire hazard plus dont want the babies to overheat or anything bad). Wish there was some way I could make the light fittings impossible to build on but I cant, Id much prefer if theyd build on the wall/rafters or something then the nests could be permanent!
 
We seem to be well populated here! Two nests in the hay-barn (high up); and one in the stable over my boy's back. He seems well chilled with them there and knowing him is probably quite happy for someone to be up there chattering away to him.

Amazing how they manage to find their way back to the same nest to re-populate every year.

Bless 'em, noisy little blighters. The yard would be very quiet without them; and as my boy's sweet-itchy and they're eating insects and stuff, they're very welcome!
 
I'm blessed with both Swallows and Swifts down here in Cornwall,chicks only hatched last couple of days,surprised they came back this year,the nest in the barn was raided by a very bold hawk last year(they all survived,learnt to fly in a hurry,they were about to fledge anyway).I never get bored watching them from my favourite chair in the yard,truly masters of flight tho' the youngsters are rather reckless!Had a few near misses.Not today tho', the rain's going sideways.......
 
The swallows at our yard have definitely declined over the last 2 summers so if that is mirrored anywhere else in the country it will be effecting population numbers. And yes it is illegal to remove nests and even when they are in the process of building them. Raising a brood is hard enough as it is! RSPB page about their legal status...

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/swallow/legal.aspx
 
We have swallow condos in our stables, there are 4 or 5 nests at one end in a big group, and a couple of others at the other end, the hay barn has about occupied 8 nests. We also have tree swallows that use nest boxes.

Our cats are very used to being dive bombed. Very gutsy little birds, I wouldn't dream of moving the nests.

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They do seem to be in decline in some parts of the country but, thankfully, not here. I am now up to 11 pairs. That's the most ever and they were back several weeks earlier this year. For years I only had one pair but they have been increasing gradually. Last year I was up to 8 pairs, this year 11. The only problem is that the magpies have launched a raid, so far unsuccessful. The first broods have flown the nest now and lovely to watch on a summer evening like tonight.
 
The nest in Merlin's box has 6 babies. The parents are running themselves ragged to keep up with the food - mind you, there are no flies anywhere near the stables at the moment as a result!
 
This thread has made me chuckle (tho NOT the bit about destroying a nest - a very huge fine if you do that, Wildlife and Countryside Act).

I have a family of swallows in my trailer, built on top of Shy's haynet. It's an old Rice with an open back, and we were using it 2/3 times a week to go out on hacks. We didn't use it for a week, and bam, thre it was. I am sooooo thick, there was nothing in there,and I thought it must have been there before and I missed it (don't ask), they'd fledged, or it was abandoned, so we went off on a very short jaunt and back.

I checked the nest a few days later, and there were the eggs - we were so pleased (tinged with a bit of annoyance that the trailer was now out for the whole of the summer). Since then, it's been trailer-watch, the egss hatched last week, hubs had laid down a huge straw bed for them, one straggler was returned when luckily we saw it fall out (a tummy the size of your thumbnail, and three strands of feathers on it's head.)

And they are going from strength to strength :D Mum obviously forgave us for our outing, tho we do wonder if the whole family would like to come out one afternoon, Shy lodging on the other side of course ;)
 
There are at least two nests on the beam over my horse's stable. She lives out in summer, just comes in for a feed and groom and to escape from the flies for a few hours. It's so cute to be grooming your horse and look up to see baby birds peering down at you.

They have a symbiotic relationship with the horses. When the horses move out to field for their 24/7 summer grazing, the birds move in to raise their families and are gone again by the time the horses go back in overnight for winter. Meanwhile the birds decimate the fly and midge population. And they are so very cute.

I think all the horse flies support a very diverse bird population. Lots of birds out in the field, too. The more the better!
 
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