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I want to encourage swallows to nest in the back garden, Im thinking of buying a shed and putting it in a quiet corner of the garden and leaving the doors permanently open. Hopefully next spring when the swallows return they might find the shed and fly in and nest in the roof. I might put one or two artificial swallow nests in the sheds roof area to encourage them.

Im in barnston and I was wondering if any one using this forum had swallows nesting near them on the Wirral this year?

I have swallows nesting in one of the sheds every year. This has been a good year as they've raised 2 broods of 5 chicks each! All are flying round the outside of the house like loonies now.

I cut a 4" square hole above the door, so they can come and go with leaving the door open. Amazing how fast they sussed that out. They quickly built theirs nests (4 now) in the apex frames of the shed. Masterpieces of mud !

Only negative point is the cr*p they drop on everything in the shed. Easily cleaned up when they leave for sunnier lands. A small price to pay for the joy they give.

Go for it Dave!

Error! Should have read "without leaving the door open".

are you on the Wirral Pinz? don't need a precise address of course, just a general idea of the location. I see them over our house every summer so they shouldn't be that far away. Trying to gauge if there are a lot of them in this area.

Sorry Dave, I should have said I'm in SW Scotland, no longer on the Wirral. However.... swallows "should" be more plentiful around your neck of the woods. Other Wirral contributers are saying there are swallows zooming around, so you are in with a good chance!

Granny is not very far from you. Maybe she could chime in with a local swallow report ?

I put up a photo of 1st brood of swallows in shed in "Picture Gallery" a few weeks ago. Should be still there.

Cheers Pinz!

the swallows nest at the shops in thingwall dave.well i think they are swallows but they may be swifts.hard to tell when they fly so fast.have a look at the post office next time you are down there.

Some years ago we kept a horse in Heswall. Swallows visited every year and made their nests in the stable. What always made us laugh was when the swallows used to clear off out of the nest of a morning, when we had the radio playing on the window ledge. As soon as the Jimmy Young programme came on, they were off. I often wanted to phone him to tell him he scared away the swallows.

Hi Davefabo,
Swallows.......I'm not too far from where you live and must admit, I have seen a noticeable decline in the number of swallows in the last 3/4 years. This year I was getting quite worried as it was very late when I first spotted them, although that could have been the weather conditions. Last week I noticed just a few more flying about.. Anyway,it is probably more to do with their nesting sites too. Houses are repainted with modern paints, barns and out buildings re-developed, converted or demolished. The farm opposite us has been developed and there are few places left suitable for them. I think it's a great idea of yours ,anything is worth giving a go, and if it works, it was worth it. I so admire and love the little swallows, such strong, ,little creatures.
Good Luck

Just one thing, is it better to leave the previous years nests in place for the following year, or should they be taken away?Anybody know?

I always leave the nests in place. They re-furbish them if required ie.extra beads of mud where needed. Both this year's broods used previously built nests. I suppose it saves the parent birds a lot of work !

I thinks Granny is right - there are less places for them to set up home nowadays. The old barns have fast become bijou residences that are sealed up tight as a drum and no openings for anything to nest in! DON'T tell me that's progress ! Grrrrrrrrr.