My OH's bird watching group have clocked their first swallow this year!
Is it a case of someone should have gone to specsavers

Westi

Either that or the wine - there's possibly a lot of it about

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildli ... 70074.aspx

My earliest sighting of a Swallow in UK was February 19th 1979 at Chew Valley Reservoir in Somerset. On the way home we were caught up in a blizzard and the journey took 8 hours instead of 31/2 hours.
I have often wondered if those Swallows, because there were about 100, actually survived.
The earliest sighting here at home is 1st March 1997.
My exciting news is that I have got a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers which appear to be nesting in one of the Ash Trees on my property. I suppose time will tell.
JB.

Thought I heard them here this week; may be wrong.

That is really early for swallows, ours usually arrive around 20 - 25 April. One year I was walking in the Dales around those dates with a French student and we had to shelter from a blizzard under a river bridge when a swallow shot past. I said, "Oh look, a swallow" to which the French lad replied, "You can't have swallows and blizzards". Well, he obviously didn't know the north of England!

Well I shouldn't have doubted, one flew over this afternoon. I don't think it was one of 'ours', it just carried on North. Have I read somewhere that the males come first - it had very long tail feathers?

PS : the wife didn't believe me but it (or another) was back circling round this evening and we both saw it.

Hi Geoff,
The Swallow here on 1st March 1997 appeared early in the morning and quartered the fields all day tucked up in one of the barns overnight and quartered for about an hour in the morning and was seen heading off in a northerly direction and the next one to be seen was on the 24th March.
Must keep my eyes alert from now on.
JB.

Three times in the last two days I have seen our solitary resident Swallow (overnights in the garage where they nest) chasing a Collared Dove, I wonder why. Does its profile make it think it as a hawk of some sort? The Swallows regularly mob birds of prey later in the year so I thought this was perhaps a one man mob.

Feeling sorry for our poor lonely Swallow. He (I think it has long enough tail feathers to say that) has been living in our garage for three weeks now and we haven't seen another one. Hope a mate makes it soon.

Things are slow to move this spring, I think. We have several chiffchaffs singing, but no willow warblers or blackcaps yet (which are quite often here by now). With heavy hail today and snow and sleet forecast for tomorrow, these migrants will be better off staying south for the moment!!!

I shouldn't have panicked, true love triumphs, a pair twittering away in the garage today. I wonder if he spruced up a nest ready?

First Swallow yesterday 12-4-12 and he is still here. The 12th seems to be the day that they generally gives the first sighting. Eighteen years out of thirty the first sighting has been the 12th.
JB.

We have two nests in the old shed here and there were occupants last year. But the house etc was empty then and no cats around so not sure if they will return. The nests are easily accessible by felines...

Counted 28 Swallows on the power line this morning and I know some of the females are sitting so what the true number is I simply don't know.
A marked increase on last year.
JB.

My husband reported that he saw the first ones here earlier this week in our village - couldn't miss the screaming and screeching of them overhead and said it was a joy to see them swooping and diving.

He couldn't believe that most of the people around walked on their way completely oblivious to them. He did stop and point them out to one lady who appeared to be wondering what he was looking at. She just shrugged her shoulders as if to say "So they're a bird? So what?" You sometimes wonder if some of these people have any souls !