Swallows in Shed

Cattlepen

Well the swallows are welcome in my place anytime. I am always waiting to see the first ones back in April . It's the real sign of summer. Feel sad when they are gathering to leave cause it's signals the dark months.
Leave the poor little things alone!!

IrishHomer

swallows only poo around the outside edge of the nest. Stating they destroy the house, car etc is an exaggeration.

OP must be parking car inside shed below the nests.

If I removed swallows from my shed I'd be totally depressed and sad.

A lot of people who have the privilege of having wildlife such as birds or bats quickly get obsessed about a little bit of a mess o their property. Sad sad people.

IsThisOneFree

IrishHomer wrote: »

swallows only poo around the outside edge of the nest. Stating they destroy the house, car etc is an exaggeration

Actually that's completely incorrect, it is not an exaggeration at all .... they have messed all over the front of our house, and also on the car - part of the reason being that there are some overhead wires that they sit on which are near the house and car. And there have been (rare) occasions where they have messed on clothes hanging on the outside washing line too ... although granted that could happen to anybody I guess regardless of how close they live to the house.

whisky_galore

Panch18 wrote: »

Myself and the auld fella were sat in the jeep the other day and were able to count 10 different species of small birds from where we were, and that's not including the pests like crows and greybacks.

Our yard has been absolutely teaming with birds this year - they are literally everywhere, hundreds of them. The place is way better than any aviary.

Nice to see

Must have recovered from the DDT that people used use pretty much everywhere, nearly putting it in their sandwiches, before it was made illegal.

Base price

IsThisOneFree wrote: »

Was away for a few days last week, so only just saw all the extra replies now :-)

I don't think I'm being mean, nor do I think I'm like the farmer who wasn't bothered about protecting the corncrake ... I'm not planning to kill or endanger the swallows or their young, I'm just saying that when they come back next year, there are other sheds further away that they can use where they won't mess up the house, car and the washing. Also, I believe the corncrake is endangered, while swallows are not. If I still remind you of the farmer, then there's not a lot I can do about that, you're entitled to your opinion too; but if we were having this conversation face to face, would you still compare me to that farmer ?

In fairness, I wouldn't consider them to be vermin .... just a nuisance. And the only reason they're a nuisance now is because of the sheer number ... if it were just a few (as it was for the previous years), then it'd all be good. And while it may surprise some of you to hear this, I do actually like having them around, even in big numbers .... I just wish they'd go have a crap in the fields instead of all around our house and washing !!!

Thanks again to everybody for all the replies.

A possible cheapesh solution for next year. Buy cheap plastic vegetable netting and surrounded the shed with it. Make a access doorway in to hang up the clothes. Air is still able to circulate through the shed but the birds cannot get in. You would have to do it in early spring before the swallows annd housemartins arrive.