swallow in my bedroom

[jane E]

I woke up this morning to see a swallow lazily - almost slow motion - flying round my bedroom.
'David, I whispered, 'there's a swallow in the room.'
' I know. It's been there for 10 minutes. The female is on the curtain pole.'
We watched them, without their being aware of us, as they twittered to each other on the curtain pole, circled the room, perched on an open wardrobe door and investigated the top compartment of the wardrobe as a prospective nesting site. Finally the male slipped out through the window he had entered by. The female failed to make the same exit and became quite agitated. So my husband slipped out of bed and opened the window wide, masking the unopened window with a curtain. She flew out like a torpedo. At that speed it would have been certain death had she hit the window.What an experience! What a lovely sound to wake to - the twittering of swallows in the same room!

[oldherbaceous]

Nature can be truly amazing Jane E.
I once had an old bat in my bedroom.

[Jenny Green]

How wonderful, and what a surreal experience to wake up too!

[alan refail]

How wonderful, and what a surreal experience to wake up to!

Who? Jane? or OH and the old bat

[Primrose]

What a lovely experience. But I suppose you can only be thankful that they didn't decide to make your wardrobe a permanently nesting place. I'm sure your intimate proximity to nature would soon have vanished as the pile of shite accumulated on your bedroom carpet !

[jane E]

It was surreal, mostly because they were completely relaxed, and were using their fluttery flight rather than their swooping flight. The twitterings to each other were wonderful.They still aren't settled on a nesting place. They wanted to build under a new porch but the mud wouldn't stick on the new surfaces. My husband has since opened a little half door to the barn and fixed nesting platforms in all the outhouses to tempt them away from the house. There are loads of possible nesting sites in the outhouses but they're fixed on the house. Apparently the pair at the local farm are having the same problem.Last year the nest in the pig sty fell down and they had to rebuild, so maybe this is a factor.

[Johnboy]

Hi Jane,
I feel that to open up as many places to them is the right way to proceed.
I have an old stable and traphouse with a hay loft above and the door on the end of the gable is secured open and there are 6 pairs nesting in there.
Last year on a very hot evening I held the back door open with a wellie and was in the lounge watching television when a Swallow flew in and then out then came back with his/her mate then another pair and then another. I decided to open the front door and dear god the hallway became a raceway. Having opened the front door I dare not close it for fear of them killing themselves but as it became dark they all went to bed but it was only at about midnight that I found a pair in my dining room roosting on the pelmet rail. I opened the windows and closed and locked the door and they had gone in the morning.
This year I have more than 10 nesting pairs and the first broods are due to fledge any time now.
As you may gather I am more than fond of Swallows and each year they return and brighten my days.
JB.

[jane E]

I thought ours were late. They came about a month ago. I can only assume they've had a failure somewhere else locally and come back to us. I would think they'd only get 2 broods in now.Maybe they're just fussy. I wish we had more of them. There were 2 pairs flying about in May. We could sustain a lot more with nesting sites and we have a largish pond and quite good insect life, having stock/dairy farmers as neighbours.

[submariner]

What a wonderful experience. It must have been incredible to watch them. My mother though would have had a fit, being extremely superstitious. She wouldn't have even a picture of a bird in the house, which suited me because my niece, her grandaughter brought back a wonderfull painting from China, with a kingfisher on it, which now has pride of place in my home!

[fen not fen]

Johnboy's story reminds me of a lovely summer evening in my previous house, when I became aware of some rustling in the kitchen. I assumed it was a mouse so went to investigate and discovered the kitchen floor awash with tiny frogs hopping determinedly in through the back door and piling up against the kitchen units on the opposite side. It seems they were on the move to the pond beyond the houses and my kitchen was in the way. I rescued all I could and put them near the pond but I was finding dessicated frogs for ages after!

[Johnboy]

Hi Fen,
I know what you mean about frogs as well. Have had a kitchenfull myself. Like you I cleared as many as I could but they got under the cabinets and kept appearing for ages.
Pleased to say that 4 families of Swallows fledged yesterday and as far as I could count they all had four babies. Would you believe the mothers were sitting again by the evening! The air was full of young ones all trying to land on he power cables and it is quite comical to watch.
JB.

[fen not fen]

Every year the young swallows take great delight in bouncing off the polytunnels and flying through the open ones at break neck speed. This drives the dog mad and she spends all day tearing around after these little dervishes. It is quite a sight but sadly only lasts a few days.