Swallows getting ready to migrate early ???

Bigric · August 17, 2014, 10:20:16 AM

For the last 3 mornings , over breakfast we have been treated to the annual 'Swallows Swooping' super show , where dozens of swallows zoom round & round in front of where my partner lives - Birtle , Bury , Grtr Manchester . The only thing is .....they're a month early this year !!
Last year we did a bit of research & discovered that this is what the swallows do (stocking up on the insects , fattening up a bit) prior to flying south to Africa . Joyce's apartment has a large kitchen window which looks out over the small front car park on one side & large trees on the other - while we sit at the table having our breakfast , we can see through the window all these birds swooping & zooming up & down , round & round , often coming within 2 or 3 feet of the window .Every so often they rest on the telephone wires , then they start again . Last year , all this happened in the middle of September !
Now I know that August has been a rubbish month so far (well , it has for those of us Oop North) but I think this could definitely be a case of deserting a sinking ship . Maybe the swallows know something we don't ! Ooh err . Cheers , Ric

Sprintex · August 17, 2014, 10:52:39 AM

Could this mean that summer is over??? Hope so!

Paul

port perran · August 17, 2014, 11:28:16 AM

They are all behaving as normal down here in the SW.
But...August (apart from today!) has been lovely so far.......long may it continue!!

Greybeema · August 17, 2014, 12:03:38 PM

They seem to be normal in Dublin but I'll keep a look out at them...

Agrippa · August 17, 2014, 01:50:18 PM

I pass a couple of public football pitches every other day where the swallows have been swooping,
I'll have a look today on the way to the supermarket. I know they all gather on phone lines
for a while and jostle about , then suddenly take off but I don't know why. Obviously
they can't forecast the weather any better than Michael Fish.

With my RSPB member's hat on I would guess that it's a combination of the young being fully
fledged, shorter daylight hours and perhaps a reduction in the number of flying insects
as the weather gets less summery.

If Bill Oddie or any expert twitchers are on the forum perhaps they can clue me in.

BTW , I rented a holiday cottage on a farm at Slayley near Hexham a few years ago,
a lovely place, and a swallow came in through an open window and flew about
the kitchen. I managed to catch it and release it outside.

The farmer was amazed and said he'd never heard of that in 40 years at the farm.

Bigric · August 17, 2014, 02:00:46 PM

Going back to my original posting , I suppose it could be down to the fact that here we seem to be inundated currently with small black flies/insects of one particular type . Maybe the swallows are just gorging themselves !! Ric

Agrippa · August 17, 2014, 02:07:27 PM

It would be good to have a pet swallow to sit on your shoulder when hiking in
the Highlands in summer, the midgies would be the hunted instead of the hunters !

REGP · August 17, 2014, 03:39:04 PM

I was talking to a knowledgable bird watcher at a local reserve last week who said that the large number of Swallows we had seen flying South over the Thames recently may well have come down from Scandinavia where they had breed earlier this year.

He also said that as the Swallows come from a large variety of geographical areas they fly back at different times due to the distances involved. He also inferred that the parent birds will often fly South leaving the young to find their own way South.

I am not sure how accurate the foregoing is but post it simply as a matter of interest.

If anyone can confirm or repudiate his comments I would be interested to know.

Ray

Newportnobby · August 17, 2014, 04:19:55 PM

Immediately kindled memories of 'Monty Python & The Holy Grail' question
"Are they European swallows or African?"

Tdm · August 17, 2014, 05:01:38 PM

The "Swallows" that we get here in Tenerife every year are of the Human variety and they don't arrive until the end of September or early October and stay till March. No sign yet of any of them arriving early.

Jerry Howlett · August 18, 2014, 02:37:57 PM

After 14 years holidaying / living in this village I still don't know if the critters here are swallows or swifts.

Plenty of them about though they arrived around about May.

Nobby, I remember that sketch does it end in arggghh!!!

Jerry

FeelixTC · August 18, 2014, 03:00:06 PM

Plenty of Swallows in Sandsend (Yorkshire) and not showing any signs of 'roosting up' before they leave.

...........on the other hand; had a couple of weekends of no-shows from Mrs B(lackbird), Bobbin, The Tits or the Finches - Perhaps they do know something we don't?

Agrippa · August 18, 2014, 03:30:40 PM

Quote from: Jerry Howlett on August 18, 2014, 02:37:57 PM
After 14 years holidaying / living in this village I still don't know if the critters here are swallows or swifts.
Jerry

Swallows have very long thin V shape tails and red brown throats, swifts have short stumpier tails
and are duller in plumage.

Bigric · August 18, 2014, 10:51:17 PM

Plus , it's only swallows which rest up on telegraph wires etc. Swifts come out of their nests , zoom around feeding & then go back in.....apparently ! Ric

Greybeema · August 19, 2014, 08:06:35 AM

Yup, Swifts are about the same size as Swallows and are overall Black
/brown. Very scimitar shaped wings. Short vee tail (not the long streamers like a Swallow).They spend all of their time airborne only landing for nesting. Subsequently they have very puny legs. They sleep on the wing by climbing high then napping as they slowly cruise down, when near the ground -repeat...

House Martins are smaller than Swallows short vee tail like a Swift but white underbelly...

All are wonderful flyers and are a delight to see diving and jinking whilst chasing insects and each other... So be honest apart from a few raptors they are my favourite...