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--967773369-336732438-1373894141=:58374 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable =0A=0AVery interesting George=0AOne thing that cattle attracted was flies a= nd mosquitos=0Aand the barn swallows followed the cattle closely.=0AI grew = up on a small mixed farm with 50 head of cattle=0Aand always lots of barn s= wallows. The swallows would light on=0Athe cattle's back in the field. In f= act my Grandfather when he was =0Aworking in the field would have them ligh= t on his shoulders.=0AOf course there was so many added each year some woul= d=0Ahave to take up residence at other peoples farms or buildings.=0Acattle= or no cattle.=0AThere was two species Cliff Swallows ( Hirundo pyrrhonota = ) which were=0Acalled Eave Swallows and Barn Swallows ( Hirundo rustica ).= =0AEave swallows nest outside under the eaves. My Grandfather had put=0Aup = a board under the eave of the buildings=A0 near the well where they=0Aneste= d. English Sparrows and Starlings done a bad job on them.=0AEspecially the = Sparrows and the Eave swallows soon disapppeared=0Awhen they arrived. The B= arn swallows held on until the cattle left.=0AWe also had a large colony of= Bank Swallows ( Riparia riparia ) in=0Athe front field. They nested in the= south facing bank which was about 15 m in height.=A0 It worked good - we c= ould only cultivate to about 5 m =0Afrom the edge the bank so that ground w= as undisturbed and left=0Ato the swallows. Horses had more fear of falling = over the edge than did tractors!=0AThe arrival of the shunks finished that = off. They dug out all the nests=0Aas well as=A0 destroying all the tern egg= s on the beach. We carried=0Aout an active control program on the shunks bu= t they multiplied faster=0Athan my Grandfather could dispense them . Taught= me a lot about=0Apredator control if nothing else. His favorite method was= to put=0Aa batch of eggs about 30 m from where he could sit. He would=0Ado= that for several evening in a row. One evening he would wait and=0Awhen th= e feast was=A0on he=A0would help the celebration=0Awith both barrels of the= 12 ga. Much like Canada Day now.=0AEffective in the short tern but no long= term effect.=0AAnyway we miss the swallows=0APaul=0A=A0=0A=0A=A0=0AFrom: "= g4syth@staff.ednet.ns.ca" <g4syth@staff.ednee them t.ns.ca>=0ATo: naturens@= chebucto.ns.ca; James W. Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> =0ACc: NatureNS <= naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>; Ally (Allison) Manthorne <amanthorne@bsc-eoc.org>= ; Mark F Elderkin <elderkmf@gov.ns.ca>; Sherman Boates <boatesjs@gov.ns.ca>= =0ASent: Monday, July 15, 2013 9:26:59 AM=0ASubject: Re: [NatureNS] re ch.= swifts vs. swallows et al. -- was Barn Swallows and Chimney Swifts=0A=0A= =0AHi all,=0A=0AThis is all very interesting, as both barn swallows and chi= mney swifts=A0 =0Aare less numerous than most of us middle and older aged n= aturalists=A0 =0Aremember from our past.=0A=0AWhen I grew up in Greenwich, = Kings County NS there were barn swallows=A0 =0Anesting in most of the barns= in our community. From the west moving=A0 =0Aeast: Murray Forsythe's barn = had many nests, there were cattle but=A0 =0Athis barn is now gone; Richard = Forsyth's ( now Harold's ) there were=A0 =0Ano cattle but swallows in many = of the barns, they disappeared for a=A0 =0Anumber of years but have returne= d in smaller numbers; Lewis Legge, now=A0 =0AStephen Legge, there were nest= s in all levels of the barn, cattle for=A0 =0Aonly a few years that I remem= ber, no nests presently; My dad's, George=A0 =0AForsyth's barn had barn swa= llows as I grew up, nests on three levels=A0 =0Ain some years, we had no li= vestock, there haven't been nests for=A0 =0Atwenty years; Lorna Huston, now= Ivan Rafuse, a small modern garage,=A0 =0Ahad swallow nests, never had liv= estock, the birds entered under the=A0 =0Aroll up door that was left open a= bout four inches, these birds have=A0 =0Agone; Herb Johnson's barn had no l= ivestock, but barn swallow nests on=A0 =0Atwo levels, this barn is now gone= ; Rhodes Hennigar's (now Doug), there=A0 =0Ahas been no livestock for many = years, but there is a continuous=A0 =0Ahealthy population of barn swallows = nesting on three levels of an old=A0 =0Abarn on the property, there is a so= urce on mud in an area where they=A0 =0Awash vegetables and fill farm machi= nery with water.=0A=0AIn all of these cases the barns or garage are of wood= construction,=A0 =0Athey have openings that are accessible to the birds, e= ven open=A0 =0Adoorways, and there is a source of mud. The fact that livest= ock are=A0 =0Apresent I don't think is as important, livestock will almost = guarantee=A0 =0Athat there is mud, but if there is some other reason that m= ud is=A0 =0Aavailable as at Doug Hennigar's they will still be attracted.= =0A=0AAbout twenty years ago I remember poking my head into an abandoned=A0= =0Ashed on the lower end of the Stewart Mtn Rd, in Lower Blomidon, there= =A0 =0Awas a barn swallow nest in this building and the adults swooped and= =A0 =0Achattered as I looked inside the building. This was not a building= =A0 =0Abeing used for any purpose by people, and it had not been used for= =A0 =0Amany years, but this pair of swallows found it attractive!=0A=0AI'm = sure that the combination of conditions that attract barn swallows=A0 =0Ato= nest is known to barn swallows and might never be understood by all=A0 =0A= of us. I also think that just as some of us find some areas attractive=A0 = =0Afor our living, and might not be attracted to other places, individual= =A0 =0Abarn swallow pairs might nest in conditions that are not necessarily= =A0 =0A"typical". As important as nesting=0Ais to barn swallow populations = their time in Nova Scotia represents=A0 =0Aonly one quarter of the year, th= ere must be many other impacts on=A0 =0Atheir population that are not relat= ed to nesting.=0A=0AIn any case there is a relaxing pleasure in seeing barn= swallows=A0 =0Aswooping and coursing a lawn, hay field or pasture on a sun= ny summer=A0 =0Aday, we should all be jealous of the freedom as they reel, = in seeming=A0 =0Aabandon, countering gravity as we are bound to our lawn ch= airs!=0A=0A=0AGeorge E. Forsyth=0A=0A=0AQuoting "James W. Wolford" <jimwolf= ord@eastlink.ca>:=0A=0A> Regarding the chimney swift, the history is a bit = complex and of=0A> course the mathematics of this is/are unknown.=A0 Rememb= er that before=0A> North Americans/Europeans built chimneys to which the sw= ifts could=0A> adapt (which of course they did in spades), the main habitat= for the=0A> swifts in North America and probably also in