Fewer Barn and Violet-green swallows has been my impression in the Des
Moines Marina area where I live south of Seattle, WA. We had about 26
apparently active Barn swallow nests this summer amongst the wharfs and
slips of the Marina. Previous seasons have easily seen 70 or more nests
fledging young just from the public launch area alone. Fly-overs and
general aerial foraging from Violet-greens suggests we have a "few" this
year vs "dozens" in seasons past. This is for the Marina area alone.
Neighbors further to the east, closer to foothills, and away from the salt
water may have higher nesting rates. Anybody else have an impression of
fewer swallows???
Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu Univ of WA and Des Moines, WA
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On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Mark Egger wrote:

> Sitting in my backyard this evening, my daughter (5 y.o.) mentioned that
> swallows were her favorite birds because they eat mosquitoes. That got me
> to thinking how I'd noticed very few swallows around our neighborhood
> (Matthew's Beach, Seattle) this summer, whereas they are usually a regular
> part of our late afternoon outside experience, VGs and Barns at least.
> Come to think of it, there have been few (like NO) Vaux's Swifts either
> this summer (in past years we've seen them EVERY evening. Has anyone else
> noticed this, or am I just getting to old to see them anymore?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Mark
>
>
>