Looked outside one day and saw these.
Honestly, at first we thought they were bats, ha!
They are "Barn Swallows". They are actually a protected species. You can't remove active nests or harm them but it IS ok to prevent their nests and encourage them to go elsewhere.
They use mud and regular nesting material to make a hanging nest of sorts. "J" said they have had them before and they are very messy. We had some years back at the old house.
This was as far as they got, definitely starting to be a mess. I stood on a chair and cleaned it up and then had to come up with a way to discourage them.
The ledge is not very big so we had to get creative and so I came up with this idea:
I bought a pinwheel at the dollar store (or $1.25 and up store, ha)! I used some painters tape to hold it in place and now when the wind blows it spins. We also saw them fly by a few times and the breeze from their wings made it spin. It works. It doesn't look the greatest but from what we've read in our birding books, they will come back to the same place year after year and so once they get a nest established elsewhere, that will be their "go to place" and we'll be able to take this down.
We went outside and told them we have 10 acres, there is a barn and shed too, heck, there are tall eaves on the house. Anywhere but the white porch, ha. "J" at the front of the property said that she has seen a pair building a nest in her old shed. We are hoping that it's the same pair. We also saw some mud starting to accumulate on the corner of an overhang out near the barn. We shall keep an eye on it.
They eat all sorts of insects including mosquitoes. Maybe find another area to encourage them.
ReplyDeleteWe need to look up how to encourage/attract them to a certain area. There are 10 acres and lots of other buildings, we hope they find a space. There are two up at the house in the front of our property and two more starting a nest near the barn, so we're hoping two of them are these.
DeleteWe used to have lot of nests in the barn, and the birds get very protective of there area. They would dive bomb the barn cats or the kids if they were in the barn yard for something.
ReplyDeleteOh they were dive bombing me while I was cleaning it. I felt bad but fortunately they had not built much. The outside kitty was getting dive-bombed too.
DeleteIt's wonderful that your property is so bird friendly that you have birds choosing to make a home around your property. But not in that exact place. Clever idea about the pinwheel. With all of the other buildings around, I'm sure they'll be able to find a much better place to make their nest.
ReplyDeleteI Love the shade of blue on your porch ceiling.
Yes, so very bird friendly. we want to make it friendly for all animals and birds. And thanks, we LOVE the blue. :-)
DeleteYeah, I've tried explaining to the birds too.... no nests ON, or immediately adjacent to, the house. This year our next door neighbor is currently battling a robin who wants to make a nest on top of the garage door opener. They can't leave the door open for a second. Each time they get a car out they have to shoo her back out the door. She stations herself on the fence and waits. This has gone on since mid-May.
ReplyDeleteThey are persistent, that's for sure. And I bet if you put birdhouses, they just ignore then, ha. We feed them and keep their tummies full, and they are welcome to nest anywhere on the property, in fact we hope they do. But it's a brand new house, at least give us a few years, ha.
DeleteWe had a robin this spring that kept tapping on our deck door. It finally gave up. I also ran across a really cool app recently, Merlin. It identifies the different birds from their bird songs. This morning it identified 6 different birds while I was on the deck with my coffee.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, now THAT sounds like a fun app. We recognize the doves and the cardinals but we'd love to learn the others. Thanks, will check it out!
DeleteYou might look 👀 into getting a bat house built or buy one or two to put around the property! They eat mosquitoes 🦟 ... could be a good idea!
ReplyDeleteyes, we have thought about that. I need to do some research on that. We also thought about a "Purple Martin" house, they are supposed to eat tons of insects as well. Thanks!!! Off to research bat houses, where to put them etc.
Deletewe have had a couple of Martin houses up; had them up for few years now. The male Martins would arrive first; females come later.
DeleteOne problem; the sparrows chased off the Martins and took over the Martin houses. Have not seen no Martins since.
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