I love swallows. As a child I amused myself watching them flying around. I still do it. I never get bored watching the swallows. In my last blog post I told you about my Arctic Garden. After reading that you can understand how fascinating swallows must feel. We have a saying about it that when the swallows arrive the summer has started. They are not here yet, not today.
Swallows are not nesting in my garden but nearby. I can watch them for hours from my terrace deck hammock. Last year I noticed most of them had nest a bit further than usual. For some reason. Or nesting succeed only a bit further. I suspect squirrels are one reason. Around here is enough old houses for the swallows to find nesting places. Around here is also a lot of squirrels. None hunts the squirrels for money anymore.
There are no squirrels in my garden. If there is they die. My dogs hunt them for food. Both are smart, the dogs and the squirrels. The best and most patient execution I ever saw was dear Nuka to lay like dead for two hours to wait a squirrel come near enough. When it was just under a half meter far away Nuka attacked and killed it. Bad for the squirrels, good for the swallows. But swallows are more endangered than the squirrels so I guess that's ok. (Did you know the squirrels eat also meat like eggs and chicks?)
Squirrels know where my dogs get because very year survives at least one squirrel who is mousy enough and doesn't trust in its luck too much. They know where the borderlines are. They don't even climb my house walls or nest under the roof. The dogs bother them too much.
That's why last autumn we decided to set up a nesting place for the swallows for the summer 2021. Swallows are quite picky for the nesting. That's why they are endangered. We used old left over timber for the nesting place but still at least this and next few years they may thing it is a trap. But we let it be there and offer them a possibility to get used to it.
We set it up into the direction that has a proper airstrip. We also put it at warm but shadow place to hide the tiny ones from them most hottest heat of the day (well, frying your eggs is not very likely thread around here). But we also used the radiating heat from the sun to keep the tiny ones warm enough by placing it by our terrace deck (freezing your eggs is more likely option). It is also to the more calm and quiet direction of my garden.
Exciting!
Let's hope they'll accept the nesting board some year!
I keep you updated when something happens!
