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Index of Subjects This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01D1D085.361A8330 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi all Over the last few weeks it has been brought to my attention that = swallows are facing new challenges in Nova Scotia. The first situation = was of Tree Swallows nesting in the back of street lights. In HRM = particularly and no doubt elsewhere, there is a drive to replace lights = with low-energy LED lights. As replacement was being done in one area, = we heard of one swallow nest with eggs being discarded by a worker who = did not know any better. The city councillor and the contractors were = notified which resulted in a policy that any further nests they would = find, whether or not they can identify them as swallows will be left = alone. The lights and poles will be skipped and replaced in September. = Another consideration is that the new lights will not have access holes = for birds so Tree Swallows will need to look elsewhere for nesting sites = next spring in the areas. Anyone who lives in an place where lights are = being replaced can help by pointing out active nests, report to the NSBS = at contact@nsbirdsociety.ca or speak directly to a worker. We can make = sure those lights are not be replaced this nesting season. =20 The second issue is around Barn Swallow nesting areas. As people here = know, Barn Swallows have been listed as endangered species in Nova = Scotia by the NS Department of Natural Resources. Some of their = favourite nesting sites include the NS Department of Transportation and = Infrastructure Renewal=E2=80=99s domed buildings used for road salt. = These buildings are all over the province and some have 8 or more nests = inside. There is a movement by the provincial department to completely = shut the entrances off to all birds as they are finding that pigeons are = causing problems and hard to control. That being said, I have been in = touch with =E2=80=9CTransportation=E2=80=9D and they are willing to = consider options to find ways to eliminate the pigeon problems they fear = while finding ways to include Barn Swallows. We=E2=80=99re working on = it. Since NatureNS reaches many areas both in NS and outside, this may = already have been addressed. Anyone who knows of breeding Barn Swallows = in these sheds, I would like to know and plot those for reference and = discussion with the provincial departments. If you can help, let me know = where and how many nests you find per building. Thanks. Dave From: Carmel Smith=20 Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 1:48 PM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Swallows I had a pair of tree swallows successfully fledge three young a few days = ago, from a nest box on the utility pole. I would say they use that box = maybe every second or third year. Last year they tried to nest in a = different box and abandoned the eggs for some reason. I was happy to = watch the last one peeking out and the parents teaching the other two = while swooping in to encourage the straggler to come out. He did the = next morning, there was a lot of noisy rejoicing in the air as he joined = the rest of the family! Every now and then a barn swallow pair nests here, but it's been several = years now since I've had them. The barn is the huge old-fashioned kind, = and there is also a smaller shed with high peak they've used. The = neighbours have less in their barn than they used to, but they usually = have one pair.=20 There are still lots of small farms here, with small herds of beef = cattle. It is not really agricultural here, except it had to be in past = eras for survival. There are drumlins of good soil, and all the farms = are on these, which restricts their size. Hardly any dairy farms = anymore. Lots of old barns though. Carmel Smith Midville Branch, L'burg County On Monday, June 27, 2016 1:10 PM, Bev Wigney <bkwigney@gmail.com> wrote: All, Just an observation on Barn Swallows. When Don and I had our farm in eastern Ontario, there were always a number of Barn Swallows that nested in the rafters of our barn. They successfully raised many young for the first 20 years we were there. We had no loft, but plenty of ventilation in the stable as we left large doors open at the east and west ends of the barn, so always a good breeze blowing through. The swallows built nests attached to the rafters. The adults would tear through the barn, often giving us a tip of the wing on the head or hat as they zoomed past while we were doing the milking (we kept a large herd of dairy goats at that time). Then, we started having hotter and more humid summers. We noticed this ouselves, not so much because we watched the thermometer, but because Don and I were both very avid hikers and paddlers and we started to find that we could barely stand being out in the sun on hot summer days -- so we would only paddle on creeks overarched by trees. We picked out hikes to avoid open trails over the rock expanses on the Shield. Anyhow, at this time, we noticed a very sad thing happening in the barn. We began to find young birds out of their nests and down dead or dying on the stable floor. We had noticed that, even before they were of an age ready to fly, they would be perching on the edge of the nests and we could see they were distressed from the heat. We couldn't think of anything to do about the situation as we had plenty of vents at ceiling level as well as the aforementioned barn doors that were left wide open through summer. After a couple of summers of almost total losses of nestlings, the swallows stopped nesting in the barn and never returned. I set this time as probably being around the year 2000 or possibly a little before as it was probably 8 to 10 years before I sold the farm after Don died. I am wondering if the swallows find many stables too hot for nesting now -- especially those stables that don't have lofts with full hay mows. That would be a growing trend, I think, as most people now make round bales and don't put so much hay up in their mows. Those barns are probably not so heat-insulated as they once were. Stables such as ours, may have been fine before, but with what seem to be increasingly hot summers, maybe the heat levels are getting to the point that young birds expire. Anyhow, just a first-hand observation of a noticeable decline and then disappearance on my own farm back in eastern Ontario. Bev Wigney Round Hills, NS On 6/27/16, Laviolette, Lance <lance.laviolette@lmco.com> wrote: > Hi Paul, > > Well this birder agrees with you. I=E2=80=99ve seen the demise of = small farm cattle > in eastern Ontario as well with pastures and hay fields becoming huge