One year we had a pair of barn swallows build a nest and raise a family in our barn. I even blogged about them. They were kind of cute, but messy and I lamented about this to my brother. He warned me that they would ALL come back next year. Now, he is very smart and even worked with raptors and other birds way back in his early days. This was long before he became a high mucky-muck in the DOE, and NO he didn't have anything to do with Solyndra, but still I hoped he was wrong!
Each year we clean off where they nested last time and put wood blocks or nails or something to encourage them to go else where. We have about 10 acres of trees. They are not limited to our barn! But my brother was right and each year we get more and more. Once again my main complaint is the mess.
I LIKE hearing them whistle when I get to the barn in the morning. I am amused by their antics as they fly out of the barn and try to lure me away from their young. I am grossed out by the droppings EVERYWHERE.
This year they were particularly inventive. One nest is between the open barn door and the wall of the barn. I can hear them in there and see some of the hay they used to build it, but I can't see the nest itself. Of course this means I can't close the barn door until the babies hatch and fly away. I don't want to crunch up some wee babies.
There is another nest that I can hear and not see. It seems they have gone between the sides of the barn and the roof. there is a small gap. And then they have built the nests on top of the soffits on the eaves. I can hear them up there peeping away. I can see the parents fly around and convince me not to look behind the curtain (Wizard of Oz reference), but I can't see any of the babies. And they are all where I can't get to the babies. So I can't even get a barn cat to get rid of them or to convince them not to return.
And then I'll have to talk Lee into using the pressure washer next time they leave. No point in it now. This is from just a few days
Oh, well. They are cute, I guess.
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