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House Martins

Firecrest
29/04/2019 11:43

Hello. I have joined the community again after a gap of about 8 years. I used to be known as JEF then Goldcrest but had to log in with new name to access my old profile. Anyway, I am now known as Firecrest.

We have had House Martins visit our house for the last 20+ years. We did have a gap of four years but now realise a young Beech tree blew down which left a clear path to the nests again, so they returned, much to my joy!

Numbers have been pretty consistent since the first pair returned and they are the highlight of my spring and summer. I am very concerned because so far only one pair have returned this year. We first saw them about 12 days ago but no sign of any more.

There is no sign of any swallows or house martins when I walk the dog around our usual haunts, where usually we see loads. Please can anyone tell us if they are late this year?

Thank you.

  • 26/05/2019 14:37
    No I haven't Mari as I haven't many house sparrows in my garden, only seen1 pair this year. I do see tree sparrows coming to feed but they have never nested in my garden or the boxes. I have not seen any aggression between sparrows and HM this year although I realise that does not mean it has not happened. I really do enjoy the sparrows and was very pleased to see them return as there were none to be seen anywhere for the first 10 years or so I lived here. I am grateful to Robbo for his advice as it is good to be aware.

    I do agree with you about trying to interfere too much with different species. (Yes, people will argue I am interfering by feeding birds...fair enough). Every time so called experts have interfered in the past, we see more problems. I am afraid I am disgusted with my local wildlife group who go about shooting every grey squirrel they see. (They refer to it as "dispatching" rather than killing and make the same excuses and give the same reasons as every hunting & shooting group around) I have absolutely nothing to do with them.

    Yes, I will do everything I can to help house martins but I would never deliberately hurt any other bird to do so.
  • 27/05/2019 23:08
    Harming one species to save another does seem hypocritical to me and the weird thing is we only value what is scarce... so once we harm one species to the point of decline we then put everything into saving it, which normally means harming another (ravens vs waders). Conservation is a complex and controversial subject!

    Back to the house martins, the strangest thing is now the sparrows have harassed them off the nest they don't appear to be using it. I'm baffled, but nature has it's ways! I could be wrong, perhaps there's a female sparrow incubating in there already but I haven't seen any activity. I would hate to interrupt a bird mid-way through her clutch so won't interfere just now. They are lovely birds to have around too, and who am I to decide anyway! I'll give it some consideration for next year, how best to help the HMs. The idea is to help struggling species, not necessary hinder thriving ones..

    Really appreciate both of your thoughts and advice- thanks.
  • 28/05/2019 19:57
    Have you got any HM's breeding at all this year Robbo? I must say numbers all over my area seem to be much lower this year.

    The poor Swallows seem to have disappeared, although hardly surprising when so many in the hamlet have destroyed nests or prevented nesting. I woud love swallows but the box design we put up on the field side of the garage hasn't attracted any.

    Do either of you (Mari and Robbo) get swallows nesting?.