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of like we witnessed a few decades ago. It is unusual for them <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org= /TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"><html xmlns=3D"http://www.w3.org/1999/xht= ml"><head> <meta content=3D"text/html; charset=3DUTF-8" http-equiv=3D"Content-Type= "/> =20 </head><body style=3D""> =20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Hi Donna and All</span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Its nice to read about the Swallows - r= eminds me of home!<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Not in NS but not far away.<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">We had up to 50 head of cattle and ther= e had been cattle on<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">the farm for generations. The Barn Swal= lows came in side and the Cliff<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Swallows nested on the eves of the buil= dings. When they built the barns they<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">put a board under the eves for the Clif= f Swallows to nest on. And the cattle<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">were watered at a pump in the yard. Of = coarse there was a lot of water<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">got spilled around the trough and the c= ows hoofs make a great paste<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">with a little manure for the swallows.<= br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">There was so many swallows the cat didn= 't dare cross the yard!<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">On the bank at the bottom of the field = was a colony of Bank Swallows.<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Clouds of them and terns on the beach. = The terns would harass you if<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">you walked on the beach. The water ther= eabouts have a lot of Silversides.<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Good for the terns!<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Someone let out skunks that they were f= arming for fur and the price<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">dropped. They soon exterminated the ter= ns and Bank Swallows and<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">the change in farming decreased the num= ber of Cliff and Barn Swallows.<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Mosquitos and flies loved cows and swal= lows loved mosquitos! The mosquitos<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">loved humans so they never bottered me = much even to today!<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Thanks for your update - enjoy the summ= er<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Paul<br/></span> </div>=20 <blockquote style=3D"position: relative; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: = 10px; border-left: solid 1px blue;" type=3D"cite"> On June 23, 2018 at 10:03 PM Donna Crossland <dcrossland@eastlink.ca= > wrote: <br/> <br/>=20 <p>Hi Nancy:  I was delighted to take Ally Manthorne on a swift (as= in 'quick') "swift tour" of nesting swifts in barns in Eas= t Dalhousie and Cherryfield a few weeks back.  We were surprised to di= scover the barn swallow nest built over top of the swift nest.  This i= s new construction this year.  Dr Cindy Staicer and I examined that ne= st last year, and I believe it had been active.  I haven't been ba= ck to see whether the swifts (which hadn't started to nest in any of th= e barns at that point) will build a new nest or move elsewhere.  The t= rouble is that subsistence farming is pretty well terminated in the area an= d barns are falling down, as you well know.  I will continue to try an= d convince a few others who own barns to open up their hay loft window.= 0; Spread the word if you can.  (We were successful with one barn in C= herryfield, and it is now occupied by swifts once again.)  My guess is= that <span style=3D"text-decoration: underline;">any </span>barn in that a= rea would offer a welcome nest site to the swifts.  (Goodness knows th= ere are few trees remaining to consider, and chimneys are now lined.  = Where are they to nest?)</p>=20 <p>The barn in the photo is the old Sleigh barn located across from Flos= sy Wright's place.  It's not kept open deliberately for the bi= rds but there is a growing colony of cliff swallows inside, sort of like we= witnessed a few decades ago.  It is unusual for them to be inside the= barn, quite correct.  But this barn has a huge open door at the back = and that seems to make the difference to the birds.  It is more open t= o the outdoors than other barns.  The barn had been used more recently= than most for llamas and horses.  If you go, you may want to knock on= the door of the house across the road and let them know why you are there.=   </p>=20 <p>I will be in East Dalhousie early tomorrow afternoon at my mother'= ;s house if you want to check out some "barn swifts".  I assum= e they a