Lay My Hat

Hi all
Just an observation from sunny Poitou Charentes, I have never seen so many swallows in one place before! They normally raise their broods successfully here but I've never seen quite so many.
It's an amazing spectacle when they come for a drink in our swimming pool. One of the babies earned the name Dippy as he couldn't get it right everytime and often ended up taking a quick dip rather than sip:)
How's the wildlife doing in your area this year?

Interestingly, we also have more Swallows than usual in our location in Cumbria, with at least one more brood on the way. The first chicks are still getting the hang of picking their dinner out of mid-air and relying on the parents for extra.
Too much faffing about to upload photos on here, there's a couple of shots on our FB page (link below) if anyone fancies a look.

we love our swallows too, but we find they dont drink so much as take the flies from the pool surface,

pete wrote:we love our swallows too, but we find they dont drink so much as take the flies from the pool surface,

Yes, we've often wondered which activity they were doing. We now think probably both, but with the emphasis on the fly-eating because they peak out in the early evening, when the bugs are about.

A very clever family of swallows in one of the stables this morning,instead of them staying in the nest they have made home with their young on the ledge at the top of the back wall.plenty of room to land and lots of bugs.
We have noticed far more have returned to old nests,i always feel quite sad to see an old nest from the year before empty ,clearly they didn't make the crossing.

I know what you mean Bessie, we have lovely nesting boxes for our Redstarts and are always relieved when the parents return each year.
The redstarts are usually successful with their broods with a couple of notable exceptions . This year a very healthy barn owl caused problems by roosting in our barn and many years ago a snake decided to feast on the baby redstarts ( hence my hubby building nesting boxes away from the rafters which solved that issue).
Our gite guests appear to enjoy watching the birds which adds another positive aspect to their rural holiday

Collared doves drinking from the pool is always nice, as are the swallows and the bats at night.

I saw 3 snakes this week...2 very small, but one would have got the guests heart racing if they had seen it! Just outside our boundary thankfully!

A few years ago we had no swallows return in the spring but slowly the numbers have crept up and I have just spent a happy 5 minutes watching a huge mass of them swooping around after insects .... and at other times they have been giving our local buzzards and kestrels (and cats) some grief! Lovely to see them back

Rather scary wildlife report. On opening our back door (after dark) I was chased inside by 13 hornets! Gosh they are intimidating in a confined space. Hubby had to despatch them with fly spray, it worked pretty quickly thankfully.
Our local pest control chap dealt with the nest which had literally appeared within the last two two weeks in our barn. Cost 115€ but worth it for my peace of mind and that of our guests. Can't help but feel very guilty though, I hate causing their destruction

I wouldn't shed too many tears, Farley. No-one likes to harm wildlife (I've been known to get into the pool solely to rescue a drowning wasp), but these could have been Asian Hornets, which have been reported recently and they're very nasty indeed; they also kill large numbers of bees, so you might have done your bit for conservation.

Mols

[quote="farley"Can't help but feel very guilty though, I hate causing their destruction [/quote]
I thought this a couple of years ago when some wasps started building a nest in my pool shed. I was full of admiration for their work and didn't get rid of them. Until I got stung several times I didn't feel so bad about causing their destruction then.

At home we have a regular visit from the hedgehog who traverses the garden. We have a pond and saw the most amazing, very large dragonfly, laying eggs around the pond. Sadly the biggest and most wondrous wildlife comes with a sting in its tail so to speak. A heron landed just yards away from the house, next to the pond but he was coming back for a second dib at the fish. He took our 12 year old goldfish that used to eat out our hand whilst we were away for the weekend. The pond is surrounded by fence and fishwire, but one of the bamboos broke and he was able to push the wire over in order to reach in. Now mended and made higher but too late for our relative OAP.

We just got rid of bees which had burrowed into the cement pointing below the roof tiles and nested in the hollow eaves of a property we're renovating in Cheshire, I thought they were large wasps and called a local pest control firm who gave us all the info on these French invaders. They were hard to shift and he made 3 visits to finish the job. On a more positive note, the swallows have returned again to salmon cottage this year and are feeding their second brood now.

Thanks Mols and LV for your reassurances. I'll just have to toughen up:)
I love hedgehogs too Nemo , we rescued one swimming in our pool recently. Since then I've been keeping shallow watering holes (plant pot saucers) filled up under our shrubs so the wildlife can have a drink in our parched garden. It's important to empty and refill these frequently to prevent mosquito larvae growing in them.
Just finished two hours of essential watering, the poor garden is really suffering in this heat! How are the rest of you faring?

farley wrote:Just finished two hours of essential watering, the poor garden is really suffering in this heat! How are the rest of you faring?

Well, just put in a new watering system, but a rat (or more) chewed a big hole in the flexible pipe to get a drink, I suppose.