House Martins, Swallows & Swifts

Over development and loss of habitat, at least around here, probably going on all over, it's the food chain I guess.
Once the ones down the bottom start disappearing it just snowballs.

 

I saw our first swallows last week, swooping over the garden. Lovely to hear them calling.

 

P.S. I heard our first cuckoo on Tues.

 

We've had cuckoos, hoopoes, swallows and house martins for just over a month here in western France. The swallows and martins nest in outhouses here and are very busy.

Lots of birdsong in our garden yesterday evening, especially in the trees and shrubs round our natural pond so I got Merlin to identify them - dunnocks, sedge and Sardinian warblers, redstarts etc. I hope none of them is hosting a cuckoo at the expense of their own young.

 

Swallows and house martins are very very few in numbers here. This has been in decline for some years now and each year it is less. We used to see them on the electric lines and they looked like musical notes. Do I remember that someone actually "wrote" some music based on where the birds were on the lines some years ago?

 

No Swift, Swallow or House martins here as yet. So many species ( birds and Insects ) declining in visible numbers.

 

All four are around here but not in high numbers.

 

Hi

no swifts yet in South Wales.

looking like it will be the 2nd year of no house martins nesting in 22 years in my close so I don’t know if they have a better place to live and bring up a family or something else ?
This is when I need a Lolo Williams

Spruce

 

We used to have bats every year, until the wind turbines were erected across the road. No more bats. I believe turbines interfere with the bats radar systems.
Our swallows used to sit on our telephone lines and house martins used to nest in a nearby barn, no signs of that at the moment. Just a few swallows flying low in the evening. They like the cricket field on the Village Green where they seem to find lots of flying insects.
For the last 3 years I have had a small brown bird (house sparrow?) nesting under the eaves of my cottage. I haven't had it checked out, I hope it doesn't create a fire hazard over time as fresh nests are built, as happened at a previous house when a neighbour used a blow torch to strip paint from his facia boarding. I went down my garden in the evening and noticed a whisp of smoke coming from the roof where our two properties joined. I had hulking big firemen going up and down my stairs into my loft, clearing out the remains of some old bird nests. Quite exciting, the whole close turned out to watch!

 

We have one pair of nesting swallows this year, the female is currently sitting on eggs. Of course they’ve chosen to nest on the nest without a camera, my brilliant 24 hour live streaming camera is showing a very clear live stream of an empty nest

 

Hi all

spotted a group of 3 swifts, that’s the first I have seen this year. 22 May 2025

South Wales

 

I just don't think we get enough flying insects these days around here to attract them.

 

Hi

saw my last housemartin on 27th September .

anyone in the uk have any still with them

 

Ou last ones left about 10 days ago @Spruce but did it in dribs and drabs this year. Normally we see them all lining up on the overhead wires before they go in 2 or 3 big groups but this year they've just snuck off quietly.