Me too, I love your uplifting stories, especially after reading a heartbreaking one (substack?) by Kate Bradbury about swift chicks deliberately throwing themselves out of their nest because they were too hot. The wonderful owners of the barn (and Kate, when they were on holiday) hosed it down every few hours to reduce the heat 😇.
Our own success story- we now have at least 50 House Sparrows and Starlings in our small garden in S.E. London, achieved by providing cover, food/water and nesting sites/boxes, plus lots of planting. It's not hard to do, tho there is a lot of whitewash to clean up!
That's amazing Shirley, what a great number of house sparrows and starlings, well done. Yes we have a medium size pond the original owners installed. One day I would like to add a second larger pond.
I appreciate your writing about nature, there feels so little we can do in these times of disruption but helping nature survive is an important step. Now living in New Zealand I look forward to reading your descriptions of a wild English garden similar to a garden I left behind, made for nature and all those wonderful little creatures called insects.
Yes, I think we can actually do quite a lot individually, especially if we collaborate with our local communities through groups and councils. Small efforts have a ripple effect.
So exciting! I love watching birds enjoy the garden - they are what makes the space so special. This year I had blue tits nesting for the first time (we have a small/medium sized garden in an urban area). I've also put up swift boxes for this first time this year and have heard swifts overhead for the first time so am hoping that in years to come they'll use my boxes - they must be nesting somewhere nearby!
Well done, that's great to have blue tits nesting :) I love their colour of blue, it's so bright! Good luck with the swifts, usually it just takes a few years for birds to find the nest boxes and feel comfortable with them.
So enjoyed reading this account Jack! I haven't seen swallows here in Thanet, but not sure I'd even recognise them. We have so few trees here, sadly, birds struggle.
It’s a shame isn’t it, trees and especially shrubs attract birds and give them habitat. Swallows are mainly outbuilding nesters and flying insect eaters.
Like you Jack, the return of the swallows to Yorkshire is one of my annual highlights too! We’re lucky to have several nesting in our barns, often swooping and perching really close by as we sit in the garden in the evening, they’re such incredible birds and my favourite shade of blue!
Yes definitely - this little chap on our gate was more than happy to pose for photos close up 😂 they def seem to trust us so perhaps you’re right and they just trust us! So lovely
We regularly have two pairs of Swallows nesting in the covered alley at the side of our house. We moved here in 2002 and 'our' swallows or their descendants have returned every year usually producing 2 broods each. It is always exciting to see them arrive in April and start to repair their nests. One very old nest fell apart last year and we put up a couple of artificial nest pans that they have now started to use.
Me too, I love your uplifting stories, especially after reading a heartbreaking one (substack?) by Kate Bradbury about swift chicks deliberately throwing themselves out of their nest because they were too hot. The wonderful owners of the barn (and Kate, when they were on holiday) hosed it down every few hours to reduce the heat 😇.
Our own success story- we now have at least 50 House Sparrows and Starlings in our small garden in S.E. London, achieved by providing cover, food/water and nesting sites/boxes, plus lots of planting. It's not hard to do, tho there is a lot of whitewash to clean up!
Do you have a pond?!!
Thank you, as always.
That's amazing Shirley, what a great number of house sparrows and starlings, well done. Yes we have a medium size pond the original owners installed. One day I would like to add a second larger pond.
I appreciate your writing about nature, there feels so little we can do in these times of disruption but helping nature survive is an important step. Now living in New Zealand I look forward to reading your descriptions of a wild English garden similar to a garden I left behind, made for nature and all those wonderful little creatures called insects.
Yes, I think we can actually do quite a lot individually, especially if we collaborate with our local communities through groups and councils. Small efforts have a ripple effect.
So exciting! I love watching birds enjoy the garden - they are what makes the space so special. This year I had blue tits nesting for the first time (we have a small/medium sized garden in an urban area). I've also put up swift boxes for this first time this year and have heard swifts overhead for the first time so am hoping that in years to come they'll use my boxes - they must be nesting somewhere nearby!
Well done, that's great to have blue tits nesting :) I love their colour of blue, it's so bright! Good luck with the swifts, usually it just takes a few years for birds to find the nest boxes and feel comfortable with them.
On holiday we watched 5 baby swallows being taught by their parents, how to "dip" into the swimming pool. Magical!
That sounds amazing 💞
So enjoyed reading this account Jack! I haven't seen swallows here in Thanet, but not sure I'd even recognise them. We have so few trees here, sadly, birds struggle.
It’s a shame isn’t it, trees and especially shrubs attract birds and give them habitat. Swallows are mainly outbuilding nesters and flying insect eaters.
Like you Jack, the return of the swallows to Yorkshire is one of my annual highlights too! We’re lucky to have several nesting in our barns, often swooping and perching really close by as we sit in the garden in the evening, they’re such incredible birds and my favourite shade of blue!
They're pretty casual about us being close by aren't they - or perhaps it makes them feel comfortable as they know we come with the buildings?
Yes definitely - this little chap on our gate was more than happy to pose for photos close up 😂 they def seem to trust us so perhaps you’re right and they just trust us! So lovely
We regularly have two pairs of Swallows nesting in the covered alley at the side of our house. We moved here in 2002 and 'our' swallows or their descendants have returned every year usually producing 2 broods each. It is always exciting to see them arrive in April and start to repair their nests. One very old nest fell apart last year and we put up a couple of artificial nest pans that they have now started to use.