Swallows, Swifts and House Martins

Swallows, Swifts and House Martins

We probably all have different ideas about what heralds the first signs of early summer. For me this happens around the middle of April with the arrival of the first Swallows, Swifts and House Martins to our shores.

They arrive after astonishing journeys of 8000 miles or so to breed before returning for the winter warmth of southern Africa and Asia in mid September. They barely stop for rest on these epic journeys covering upwards of 200 miles a day, eating and sleeping on the wing.

These small birds used to be such plentiful summer visitors but, alarmingly, a recent study showed their numbers to have plummeted by nearly half in the last decade. Swifts in particular are on the Red List of conservation concern due to their numbers dropping by 62% between 1995 and 2021. I know it’s a sign

of old age to say you remember things being much better, but I’m sure I’m not the only one to recall Swifts screaming down the main street in the evenings or being followed by numerous Swallows and Martins on a walk through the fields as they fed on the insects being thrown up by our feet. To me they always seem so joyful and the aerial acrobatic skills they display is mesmerising but their numbers have

greatly reduced in recent years.

So what might be the cause of the decline in numbers? Experts suggest a number of factors. First is the decline in insect population (remember when a car ride in summer left our windscreen plastered with dead insects?) leaving the birds and their chicks with less to eat. The other factor is the reduction in

suitable nesting sites as old buildings are renovated, so there are fewer gaps in roofs and eaves where nests can be built.

Last spring we inadvertently left a shed door open during April and had the joy of a pair of Swallows making their home on a cross beam, raising a brood of 5 chicks, for the first time in 35 years, when the shed was originally enclosed. Needless to say the door is propped open again this April as we hope to

welcome them again, they do like to return to the same nest sites year after year. Encouraged by this family we have put some extra ledges on beams to make it easier for them to start their nests off and also installed ready made nest boxes outside for House Martins and Swifts as these amazing birds need all the help they can get to survive.

Laugharne Citizen Science Group has formed a small group to conduct a survey of nesting sites so we can monitor the population and, by creating awareness, support these plucky visitors . Would you be able to help please?

Any nest site information and photos can be emailed to

laugharnecitizenscience@gmail.com

If you are able to add a What3Words location for nests, not for publication, it would allow us to build a StoryMap of sites for the website and create a picture of them over the coming years.

Thank you!

Jane Gibbin, Laugharne Citizen Science Group