When will the swallows leave!?

[muckypony]

I love it when they arrive in the spring, but now I just wish they would leave!!

My stables are a mess because the horses have been out since May. I tried to keep them clean but gave up and thought I'll wait until they're gone to have a good clean ... But they're still here!!

I thought they were normally gone by now, anyone know when they should definitely have gone by!?

 

[Goldenstar]

Most of mine have gone just a few left .
The mess is epic .

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We have a 2nd nest with youngsters in, in our stable. So we are hoping that they are not planning to leave for a few weeks.
The first pair raised 4 chicks very succesfully, at least a month ago. There are still quite a lot flying around here.

 

[MochaDun]

It's weather dependent and will also depend a bit on which end/part of the country you are in but at my last yard they usually headed off mid September, regular as clockwork. So you should be able to clean your stable in a couple of weeks time. Sounds like yours raised a second brood which is fantastic news for them I hate to see the summer migrant birds go - means summer is done and I think of the incredible journey back to Africa they now have to make. I'm already missing from near my house the sounds of the swifts as they seem to leave earlier and also the housemartins are slowly going now.

 

[RubysGold]

Pretty sure they go in September though am not sure
I always love it when they arrive as means spring is coming but slightly fed up of them now.
This year they have managed to get in my tack room and make a nest, mess everywhere!!!
They use the nests in my stables every year which I don't mind. But in my tack room, not cool!

 

[muckypony]

Yes mine had two broods too. There are loads of them... I've got at least 7 nests in use and this year I've only found 2 dead (still sad but have known worse) I looked in the stables tonight and I'm sure there must be about 25 of them! I love then being around but they just make such a mess!

 

[Shoei]

3 broods this year!!! And some stupid bird has decided to make another best this week!!! Mess everywhere.... Cute little things though and eat the bugs!!! I'm in Derbyshire by the way

 

[madmav]

They depart, I think, from different parts of country according to where they winter. Mid September should be latest. I love swallows, swifts etc, makes my heart sing to see them fly. But have been dodging the parents decanting their babies' poops on my head in stable. Not so keen on that.

 

[soapy]

Maybe they're still summoning up the energy? If you buy them all seats on the BA flight from Heathrow to J'burg it might encourage then to go sooner?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I usually have 8-10 nests in my stables every year but have only had 1 this year in a new nest that they built - right above the fixed to the wall water bucket! So unimpressed so I will be taking that one down as soon as they leave!

 

[Red-1]

3 sets of chicks here too, loads of nests and although we had no deaths with the first two it must be a bit cold now as chicks are raining down most mornings now.

Personally I am glad when they go!

 

[Greylegs]

Not a fan either, tbh. My lad has nests over his stable and regularly gets pooped on. Very messy and very annoying, so I'm another who will be glad to see them go. I had a friend who used to knock the nests off as soon as the birds started building in her stable, and they soon got the message and moved on, so maybe that's an answer. Can't do that in mind because the roof is too high.

Any ideas on how to humanely repel them next year would be very welcome.

 

[soapy]

Not a fan either, tbh. My lad has nests over his stable and regularly gets pooped on. Very messy and very annoying, so I'm another who will be glad to see them go. I had a friend who used to knock the nests off as soon as the birds started building in her stable, and they soon got the message and moved on, so maybe that's an answer. Can't do that in mind because the roof is too high.

Any ideas on how to humanely repel them next year would be very welcome.

Sad to hear about your friend but hey-ho, it takes all sorts. Personally I'm happy to live with them. It's nature after all, and they've flown all the way from South Africa! But if you really can't do that maybe look into fitting some sort of non-lethal anti bird device before they arrive so that they don't waste vital energy building a nest that will then be destroyed (I'm speaking to your friend now!)?

I'm thinking pf something like the spikey things the councils use to deter pigeons? Maybe just cover the annoying beams directly above the stable so that they can still find places to build in the same building? Let's live with nature. It's truly a wondrous thing.

P.s. All our horses are out 24/7 during nesting season so it's no big deal for us. Just a bit of cleaning at the end of the summer.

 

[YorksG]

I'm with Soapy, this is the first year they've nested in our stable, and we've been here 20 years. We have been more than happy to accomodate them Our horses are out, except for about an hour each day. Spare rugs have had to be moved to keep them clean, but that's no hardship.

 

[Hanson]

Glad to hear others still have babies. Ours raised another brood that hatched last week....have been worrying none of them will make it back to the warmer winter sites.
They do make a mess but I felt really proud they nested in our stables this year!

 

[Spreebok]

Always tempted to put newspaper down in the unused stables with nests above. That way when they go, you just roll it up and ta dah! No more baby bird poops!
Well, that's the theory anyway....

 

[muckypony]

I wouldn't dream of knocking the nests down or stopping them nesting, as soapy said they've come a long way! I just want to get the big clean done asap in case the horses want to come in - but this lovely change of weather does mean that they can stay a little longer without being too annoying

 

[muckypony]

Always tempted to put newspaper down in the unused stables with nests above. That way when they go, you just roll it up and ta dah! No more baby bird poops!
Well, that's the theory anyway....

Unfortunately the ones nesting in my stables make that impossible - the mess covers the whole floor!! Fortunately I have rubber mats so they just need taking out and jet washing... Easier said than done though!

 

[crabbymare]

they have started leaving here already and the last brood that I know of left the nest last weekend. a few are still here but as the flies drop off it seems so do they

 

[PolarSkye]

We have one nesting pair whose third brood have only just fledged - there were originally four in the nest but two died (the remaining two are fat as butter though!) - although they've made an almighty mess of the (spare) stable floor, we'll be sad to see them go - it means the end of summer. I reckon they'll be off in a week or so.

P

 

[Crumpet]

Ours have gone (North Notts) though I saw a few passing through yesterday. We've had abandoned babies too

 

[southerncomfort]

We had swallows nesting in the field shelter for the first time ever this year and they were utterly useless parents!

The nest had a hole in it! Every morning me and my daughter spend 15 minutes scooping up the babies and putting them back in the nest. We tried to fix it but couldn't see where the hole actually was. Two of the three babies eventually died after falling. We saved the third but by that time the parents had buggered off!

 

[Pebble101]

Mine are still feeding babies, they hatched about 10 days ago.

 

[madmav]

Not a fan either, tbh. My lad has nests over his stable and regularly gets pooped on. Very messy and very annoying, so I'm another who will be glad to see them go. I had a friend who used to knock the nests off as soon as the birds started building in her stable, and they soon got the message and moved on, so maybe that's an answer. Can't do that in mind because the roof is too high.

That's so depressing. Wildlife is under huge pressure from modern world. Would have thought someone who has horses would be more sensitive to doing their bit to preserve their fragile hold on it. Swallows eat insects that drive horses crazy and spread disease. It's the eco-system. We all need it, even if their bird poop is annoying.

Any ideas on how to humanely repel them next year would be very welcome.

That's so depressing. Wildlife is under huge pressure from modern world. Would have thought someone who has horses would be more sensitive to doing their bit to preserve their fragile hold on it. Swallows eat insects that drive horses crazy and spread disease. It's the eco-system. We all need it, even if their bird poop is annoying.

 

[Shoei]

Mine have gone today and saw the geese fly over last night!

 

[Gazen]

Bedfordshire - We still have a few swallows left in the stables. I think that they have raised 3 broods this year. The grey and pied wagtails are back for the winter, I saw about 6 grey and about 10 pied in the paddock this morning. I love these little guys as they hang around the horses heads and catch all the flies which have been really bad this year.

 

[MochaDun]

Not a fan either, tbh. My lad has nests over his stable and regularly gets pooped on. Very messy and very annoying, so I'm another who will be glad to see them go. I had a friend who used to knock the nests off as soon as the birds started building in her stable, and they soon got the message and moved on, so maybe that's an answer. Can't do that in mind because the roof is too high.

Any ideas on how to humanely repel them next year would be very welcome.

I find that an appalling thing for your friend to do - the nests are protected during the building of or use of them:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/swallow/legal.aspx

 

[Greylegs]

Wow Mochadun, I had no idea there was actually a law about this. I'll have to pass this on. Having a protective law does nothing to alleviate the extreme annoyance of having to remove over 30 blobs of poo from my horse with baby wipes before I could ride, however. Hey ho ... They'll be gone soon and we can get back to poo free riding for a while.

 

[Landcruiser]

Me and my husband booked 2 weeks off work from 14/8 especially to re roof the stable block, and only realised we had a 3rd brood when we started stripping off the old ply, prior to replacing it and topping with galvanized. The job halted, the days passed, and last Tuesday we had to go back to work, stable still un-re-roofed and 2 baby swallows still in the nest. Today they were out and on the beams, the little blighters. So now we have a run of 4 stables to strip and re do in our "spare time" between full time jobs and decorating the entire house which has also been gutted and renovated this summer. Thanks for that, little birdies!

 

[Embo]

I'll be sad to see them go. We're on 2nd brood at ours. Our horses are out 24/7 in summer so poop on horses isn't much of an issue. Once it's dry, it brushes off anyway. Hardly a massive inconvenience! I will miss the parent birds eyeing me with suspicion when I'm in the stable with my horse lol.

There were also 2 nests in our indoor school - one baby decided to try and fledge in the middle of my jumping lesson one day, lucky I spotted it flutter down and land on the landing side of a jump! Nobody else noticed! Lesson was halted and fledgling placed somewhere a little safer! Fancy that, silly critter