Very few swallows this year

Only a personal observation from the places I visit, and not a scientific one, the swallow numbers here have been more or less the same as previous years.

But, there will be areas not far away where the numbers will have reduced, and I'll start with my in-laws former home, now under the HS2 track.

Could you give a little insight to your area, without revealing postal addresses or other identifying features of your actual address, it might help someone give a bit more insight.

As John said, a rough idea of where you are referring to would help.

However, this is directly from BTO bird reporting....

"This year we have seen an increase in Swallow reporting rates when compared to the previous four years. Last year’s late summer numbers seemed to imply 2022 was a good year for breeding, possibly with the heatwave meaning that Swallows had uninterrupted foraging opportunities allowing for more chicks to fledge. This looks to have carried on into 2023, with more birds arriving back to breed, and hopefully, will have produced more young. Whilst it is great to see this short-term recovery in Swallow numbers, following what has been a number of poor years, Swallow numbers remain below the average reporting rate"