Our barn swallows are back

Our barn swallows are back as of this morning. The swallows interact with us a good deal, mostly telling us in no uncertain terms that they want the barn doors opened each morning. There are holes with perches that they can use, but they would rather fly in, as they have lots of mouths to feed.

Later, when the chicks are about to fledge whenever we walk by or go into the barn, we trigger loud alarm calls and get buzzed. I've felt a whoosh of air many a time as a swallow swoops by my ear.

Having the swallows in residence means we have a flock of summer pets with entertainment value. We are fond of them, but it seems there are people who hate these birds. A blogger south of the border, who describes himself as a country boy (not a cowboy or a farmer or a hayseed or a redneck, though he admits to being bit of all those), hates barn swallows. At the bottom of his list of spring things to do, there is this:

Prepare for annual battle with barn swallows by stocking up on 12-gauge shells (I've tried scarecrows, plastic snakes, sonic barriers, and cussing... and I'm finished screwing around with these birds, it is time for them to die).

Yes, it's true that these birds do make a mess in the barn with their droppings, but shooting them????

Fortunately, our ride-on lawn mower has a sun-shade which keeps the droppings off the seat. Late in the summer when the birds are gone, we clean the floor with a power washer.

Aside from that, the swallows aren't a big problem. They're just fellow residents of our little eco-system, a 10-acre spot with lots of food and water, and we're happy to share. They are voracious insectivores, swooping and diving around the lawn mower as it scares up the insects. Apparently, barn swallows are quite effective at reducing insect pest populations - definitely my kind of bird.

(For more information about barn swallows, see this site by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.)
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Nestlings on the move: barn swallow babies

Every year we have four or five barn swallow pairs nesting in our small barn. We keep our gardening tools and mowers there, and as the swallow babies start leaving the nest, their parents strongly discourage us from entering the barn.

We get furious alarm calls, and Mom and Pop buzzing our heads as we try to go about our business. Early on the weekend, there were three young fledglings on the floor in the barn. When I got too close to them, I discovered that they could actually fly. Well, two did, and the third just looked very scared.

Later I came back with a long lens and took the picture above. By Sunday morning, the babies were gone. I guess they had earned their wings. This usually isn't the end of it: they tend to come back and hang around the barn roof a bit more before they really embark on their outdoor adventures.

The swallows are an annual happening here. Last year, we had a pair nesting in the garage part of the barn where the ceiling is quite low, so I was able to get pictures of them in the nest and feeding. We enjoy their antics, but we're also relieved when they've flown the coop and all the bird droppings can be cleaned up. While they're around, it's a darn good thing our riding mower has a sunroof. Otherwise, the seat would be covered in you-know-what.

The swallows are very entertaining whenever the grass is getting cut. Mowing means fast food, so they swoop and dart in an impressive display of aerial acrobatics, harvesting insects coming out of the grass to avoid the mower's path.

Kudos from Nature's Garden magazine

Out of curiosity I bought the premier issue of a new magazine from Better Homes and Gardens called Nature's Garden.

As I leafed through it last night, I came to "The Green Pages," a section at the end they call a round-up of "eco-friendly resources for the green-of-heart" and there under web resources was this:

www.countrygardener.blogspot.com
This delightful, well-written blog from Yvonne Cunnington, a gardener in southern Ontario's USDA Zone 5, conveys her desire to work with nature, not against it, because "Nature tends to win anyway," she writes. Gorgeous photographs of her garden accompany each entry.

I had no idea: the mention certainly made my day!

The theme of the first issue is creating a backyard haven for birds and butterflies. There's a story about different butterflies and their life cycles, which I found interesting as we get a lot of butterflies here, but aside from monarchs, I didn't know all that much about them.

There are instructions for building a bluebird house, which I'd like to try, as well as a story on how to create a backyard pond that's wildlife friendly. All in all, the magazine looks like a welcome addition to BHG's stable of gardening books.