Barn Swallows love our farm. Not the barn, just the utility wire and our car port! They are pretty birds, and if they don't nest in the car port, welcome to hang around.
Strangely we've not seen many swallows around this year. Usually you see, and hear, them over the fields. Even House Martin numbers are down this year but I don't know why.
Eileen, we are missing Meadowlarks, Scissortail Flycatchers, and Chipping Sparrows. I also don't know why--is it the climate change, the wet spring, the drought in the upper Northwest? We'll just enjoy the birds we have and hope the others return.
It would appear that across the eastern US hundreds of songbirds are dying and presenting ornithologists with a mystery as to the cause. Jerry
