The Barny's are back!!!!

I can't believe it, they are back for the third year! I think they might be here early. I was so happy to see one here that I had to come and post... now I can go back to what I was doing.

No good without a pic!:)

Well, I got their baby pics from last year, but I'll try to get one soon. I was so shocked to see one that I have to go get my camera and have it handy.

Well, I don't know why, but the barny's are around but not using this nest, they come by and check... there are house sparrows that go in there and I keep chasing them away, but I don't know if they already spooked the barnys.. I'm so sad, I don't know what to do. Anyway, I will keep scaring those sparrows since i can see them from my computer I just wave my arms at them and they leave, but return every few minutes.

Barn Swallows.

Thanks!

I was sure that we were hearing about the barn owls! I didn't think about any other kinds....:-)

oooh, I just wanted to let you all know that 6 barn swallows are here flying around and chasing away the cowbirds or whatever they are... I am so excited.. and glad that they are claiming their nest back. I missed them. I wonder where they have been, I see them make fly bys everyday but today they all came under the eaves like to say "this is ours"..

They are back again, a few day's earlier this year, spotted them yesterday morning March 30, and again today, they are scouting the old nest.. yippee, spring is here! Last year we had about 75 barn swallows, we started with two in 2006, so, I'm hoping they keep on multiplying, they eat all the bugs and bad flying insects around. My very own pest controllers, plus, they are a joy to watch as their eggs hatch, grow up and then learn how to fly.

edited to change year, it should read 2006, not 1996.. my bad...

This message was edited Mar 31, 2010 2:38 PM

I'm really happy for you and can't wait to see the new pictures. Love these birds!

I'll be looking forward to that too!

They are so pretty and eat so many bad bugs ^_^

I'll try harder to take photos this year.

JuneyBug, how do you like Korea? Glad to see you got packed and I'm sure you had lots of excitement during your trip. I sure wish I'd had a chance to go to that part of the world.

A.

I am loving Korea & the food. City life takes some getting used to, but I was so ready for it after 12 years of having to drive a hundred miles to shop. Living without a yarden leaves me with plenty of time to visit the parks. ^_^

Please forgive me for butting in here but I could not help but wonder if you meant Barn Swallows. Ours arrived here in NJ about a week ago and will remain until I think sometime in August. They are lovely little birds and I have noticed over the years they will have two clutches of chicks before moving on.As much as I love birds of all kind and I am a retired breeder of Exotic birds, and have a flock here at home of only six at the present, I must admit the Barn Swallow is a real pain in the neck when it comes to making a mess of the cars and barn equipment during their stay. We usually end up moving the cars outside when their babies start to hatch and the poop is outragious in quantity. LOL We have tried balloons, plastic owls, etc. to keep them out of certain parts of the barn, but nothing has worked and we will certainly not harm them. They are wonderful bug catchers and the funniest thing they do is terrorize the barn cats. They swoop down and dive bomb the cats when they come near any of their nexts and it is truly a funny sight. We had one cat that was able to catch and unfortunately kill them when they dived at her but she is now gone and we have all new barn cats who have never seen a barn swallow dive bomber. Our barn swallows numer about I would guess 100 in all. That is alot of poop. Enjoy them while you can because they will multiply and keep coming back and as they do, they make an even bigger mess since they all seem to return to where they were hatched.
I just had to share this with you because many years ago when I first saw them here on the farm I was thrilled but now, I just take a deep breath and break out the tarps to cover the equipment. LOL Have a great day and keep on loving those birds.

Hi JBerger, Welcome to the Bird Watching forum!

Wow 100 Barn Swallows? That would make quite a mess. Thanks for telling us your story and please come back to visit us again!

BTW, What exotic birds did you breed?

I had Laurel Run Bird Farm in Cream Ridge NJ for years and bred medium and small parrots, parrotlets, lovebirds, canaries, senegals, and conures and the king of the flock is Gunny, the Double Yellow Headed Amazon who just turned 19 April 1st.
Thank you for the welcome. I would love to come back when I have time.

I am presently raising only tropical plants that I sell on the internet and here at the farm if someone stops by. I started that because I bougnt a small greenhouse to play with my favorite plants as a hobby and when I get too many baby plants, I just put them up on eBay or Dave's MarketPlace.

I miss my Jenny Wrens as we called them in PA. I have never been able to attract them here in NJ. I have lots of finches and sparrows but those tiny wrens who build nests in the little houses never seem to be here. Something else I have a problem attracting is the hummingbirds. I really have tried both but no luck. Any suggestions?

Hi again J, That sounds wonderful but I know it was a lot of work for you. Gunny sounds wonderful. My parents used to have an Amazon and I had a Parrotlet for a number of years. We have an African Congo Grey (Teddy).

I guess the Jenny Wrens are Carolina Wrens? http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Carolina_Wren/id

I have them here, they seem to love the brush pile in the corner of my backyard.

Hummingbirds- Honeysuckle Vines (with red tubular flowers), Red flowering Monarda (Jacob Cline is a good one), Agastaches, Salvia.

This message was edited Apr 15, 2010 9:46 AM

Wow the chicks have gotten big!

I wish I would have know about this before, Im guessing someone posted it and I missed it. They sure do have some awfully big claws already.

Hi garden, Yes Two other people posted it in their own threads a short while back. Here is the one thread, it will be back on in a few hours. I'll bump the thread up.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1082509/

Another year has passed and I'm sitting here waiting for my friends to come back... the past four years they have lived for a short time in my yard and made a couple of nests.. last week I put a ladder up there and did some house cleaning (or tried to) but the nests didn't have anything that was harmful like fishing lines, etc.. that they could get tangled in.

Well, today, someone, I don't know which bird, pulled out the feathers that were in the nest cleaning it out, but since I didn't see them, I don't think it was the barnswallows, but it could be the darn cowbirds again trying to take over the nests before the barny's arrive. I'm also glad to use this thread to find my dates every year of when they come back home. It serves me as a documentation of sorts.

If they come back this year, they should arrive the beginning of April, so I have another two weeks to wait...

Now only if my 10 Box turtles had a date of when they are coming out of hybernation, I'd be a very happy camper..

Antoinette

Hi Antoinette, Be sure to let us know when they arrive.

Hi pelletory, you bet! I just put some nectar in a couple of feeders for the hummers in case they are already traveling through here.

One Barny is home today, he is sitting on one nest claiming it, there is a little cowbird sitting in the other nest, then Barny staked his claim and shooed the other one away. So, I think that the made it clear that the nests belong to the Barny's. Hoping to see more in the days to come.

April 3 was when I spotted them last year, but, I think they were here a few days earlier too, only I wasn't sure it was them when they would do their flyby's, by the time I looked up from typing, they were gone, so I am using the March 30 date of arrival for future reference for myself here.

I can relax now, Spring is here! (or rather, my gardening begins and more work begins too)






3-11-13
Barnswallow back this year a lot earlier than previous years. He is busy claiming his nest and chasing away a robin. I could have sworn I saw the Barnswallow last week flying in the back field right past me but I only saw his fast flight pattern, so chalked it up to wishful thinking.

But now I'm positive because he sits inside the nests. Spring is here!


3-20-14.

They're back, saw my first one today.. Yippie !!!


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This message was edited Mar 19, 2014 2:31 PM