I live not far from one of the bridges where there is a large coloney
of barn swallows and I think they do a good job of keeping down
mosquitos and other flying insects around here. They appear to have
engourged heavily on the termites that swarmed after the recent rains.
Barn swallows also appear to like some surface water nearby so they
can fly by and kim a drink now and then. I think chimney swifts do
the same.

I cannot build a bridge or put out nearby ponds but I could do a fake
chimney for chimney swifts. Sort of like all that remained of a
burned down house.

Right now the barn swallows are busy feeding their recently fledged
young on the power lines in my neighborhood - and they are sort of a
pleasure to have around.

Rusty Mase




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Contact Paul and Georgian Kyle at the Driftwood Wildlife Assn. They have
building plans for Chimney Swift towers. I think Chimney Swifts actually
eat more mosquitoes than bats.

-Nancy

Rusty Mase wrote:
I live not far from one of the bridges where there is a large coloney
of barn swallows and I think they do a good job of keeping down
mosquitos and other flying insects around here. They appear to have
engourged heavily on the termites that swarmed after the recent rains.
Barn swallows also appear to like some surface water nearby so they
can fly by and kim a drink now and then. I think chimney swifts do
the same.

I cannot build a bridge or put out nearby ponds but I could do a fake
chimney for chimney swifts. Sort of like all that remained of a
burned down house.

Right now the barn swallows are busy feeding their recently fledged
young on the power lines in my neighborhood - and they are sort of a
pleasure to have around.

Rusty Mase




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Yes, and there are plenty of them. We have a ton of them in this area, too.
They come dive the pool and anytime the water is on and spraying out they fly
through it in a diving circle for the duration.

Some of the people on the block who have high entry ways have nesting birds with
babies. I think a martin house is going up in our yard, but don't know when.

I have seen fake mud nests somewhere to encourage them to come and build their
own, I forget where I saw that. Maybe over on rec.birds (wild birds, not pet
birds) will know what I'm talking about.

I truly love the way you think. So refreshing.


On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:36:03 -0500, Rusty Mase wrote:

I live not far from one of the bridges where there is a large coloney
of barn swallows and I think they do a good job of keeping down
mosquitos and other flying insects around here. They appear to have
engourged heavily on the termites that swarmed after the recent rains.
Barn swallows also appear to like some surface water nearby so they
can fly by and kim a drink now and then. I think chimney swifts do
the same.

I cannot build a bridge or put out nearby ponds but I could do a fake
chimney for chimney swifts. Sort of like all that remained of a
burned down house.

Right now the barn swallows are busy feeding their recently fledged
young on the power lines in my neighborhood - and they are sort of a
pleasure to have around.

Rusty Mase




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On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:36:03 -0500, Rusty Mase
wrote:

I live not far from one of the bridges where there is a large coloney
of barn swallows and I think they do a good job of keeping down
mosquitos and other flying insects around here. They appear to have
engourged heavily on the termites that swarmed after the recent rains.
Barn swallows also appear to like some surface water nearby so they
can fly by and kim a drink now and then. I think chimney swifts do
the same.

I cannot build a bridge or put out nearby ponds but I could do a fake
chimney for chimney swifts. Sort of like all that remained of a
burned down house.

Right now the barn swallows are busy feeding their recently fledged
young on the power lines in my neighborhood - and they are sort of a
pleasure to have around.

Rusty Mase

I agree they're a pleasure to have around. We have two barn swallow
nests under the roof that extends from the back of our house a few
feet over the patio. We've been here for two years, and the previous
owners had them before that. They (the birds) just recently fledged a
clutch of four, and had a clutch of three last month.

We look for them to arrive about March 15, and expect them to leave
about September 15, with the last clutch coming about the middle of
August.

I think it might be possible to attract them without having to build a
bridge! Maybe just a 6x8 foot, or so, platform with 2x8 stringers,
raised 8 feet off the ground would do the trick. I just looked to
verify that "our" nests are built on 2x8s.

I'm not interested (yet) in building a chimney swift habitat, but I've
recently bought a bat house from Bat Conservation International, and
I'm looking forward to attracting a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats
next spring.

David in San Antonio

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 18:07:57 GMT, David Wright
wrote:

I think it might be possible to attract them without having to build a
bridge! Maybe just a 6x8 foot, or so, platform with 2x8 stringers,
raised 8 feet off the ground would do the trick. I just looked to
verify that "our" nests are built on 2x8s.

I wonder how much free flight room they need around their nesting
areas? It would be very easy to put up a raised platform like that.
But as Victoria mentioned, I might be better off just providing a
source of water for the ones I already have in the neighborhood. The
bridge (Loop 360 and Bee Cave Road) is provided by TxDOT for free.

I'm looking forward to attracting a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats
next spring.

I had some that lived in a little space over my garage some years ago
and it was nice to go get the paper in the early morning as they
returned and patrolled my yard for their last feeding of the night.

But I think I am developing a soft spot for chimney swifts. I had
neighbors with a swift colony in their chimney and during the summer
they can be intrusive (noisy) prior to fledging their young. The
neighbors are gone but the swifts and chimney are still there - but
you never know when the new neighbors may tire of them. I suspect
good chimney swift chimneys and patient chimney swift chimney owners
are much rarer around here than bridges.

Rusty Mase


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On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 21:37:49 -0500, Rusty Mase wrote:

I had some that lived in a little space over my garage some years ago
and it was nice to go get the paper in the early morning as they
returned and patrolled my yard for their last feeding of the night.

But I think I am developing a soft spot for chimney swifts. I had
neighbors with a swift colony in their chimney and during the summer
they can be intrusive (noisy) prior to fledging their young. The
neighbors are gone but the swifts and chimney are still there - but
you never know when the new neighbors may tire of them. I suspect
good chimney swift chimneys and patient chimney swift chimney owners
are much rarer around here than bridges.

Rusty Mase

It's really sad that in the vast spaces in this country that much of the nations
population of martins and bluebirds depend on human intervention to feed, raise
young and have water that doesn't kill them.

Someone asked how much an area the swallows need to nest. For barn swallows, it
seems all they require is a vestibule which has cover and in shade. Up north,
my mother lives on the ocean and the swallows nest around and under her eaves.

Martins don't build mud nests, but are cavity nesters. If we don't supply them
with habitat, we may see them gone in a hundred years or so.

I know I sound like a fatalist, maybe I am, but it's sad to me that wild life
has to depend on use to provide food and shelter or they may disappear.

V

This is the link that show the plans for the tower -
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/b...wift-index.htm


"animaux" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 21:37:49 -0500, Rusty Mase
wrote:

I had some that lived in a little space over my garage some years ago
and it was nice to go get the paper in the early morning as they
returned and patrolled my yard for their last feeding of the night.

But I think I am developing a soft spot for chimney swifts. I had
neighbors with a swift colony in their chimney and during the summer
they can be intrusive (noisy) prior to fledging their young. The
neighbors are gone but the swifts and chimney are still there - but
you never know when the new neighbors may tire of them. I suspect
good chimney swift chimneys and patient chimney swift chimney owners
are much rarer around here than bridges.

Rusty Mase

It's really sad that in the vast spaces in this country that much of the
nations
population of martins and bluebirds depend on human intervention to feed,
raise
young and have water that doesn't kill them.

Someone asked how much an area the swallows need to nest. For barn
swallows, it
seems all they require is a vestibule which has cover and in shade. Up
north,
my mother lives on the ocean and the swallows nest around and under her
eaves.

Martins don't build mud nests, but are cavity nesters. If we don't supply
them
with habitat, we may see them gone in a hundred years or so.

I know I sound like a fatalist, maybe I am, but it's sad to me that wild
life
has to depend on use to provide food and shelter or they may disappear.

V

Excellent! I have it bookmarked in a folder with many other bookmarks I am
going to put up on a website...sort of like a FAQ, but I won't be writing it. I
would be far to biased.


On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 20:34:35 GMT, "Larry" wrote:

This is the link that show the plans for the tower -
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/b...wift-index.htm


"animaux" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 21:37:49 -0500, Rusty Mase
wrote:

I had some that lived in a little space over my garage some years ago
and it was nice to go get the paper in the early morning as they
returned and patrolled my yard for their last feeding of the night.

But I think I am developing a soft spot for chimney swifts. I had
neighbors with a swift colony in their chimney and during the summer
they can be intrusive (noisy) prior to fledging their young. The
neighbors are gone but the swifts and chimney are still there - but
you never know when the new neighbors may tire of them. I suspect
good chimney swift chimneys and patient chimney swift chimney owners
are much rarer around here than bridges.

Rusty Mase

It's really sad that in the vast spaces in this country that much of the
nations
population of martins and bluebirds depend on human intervention to feed,
raise
young and have water that doesn't kill them.

Someone asked how much an area the swallows need to nest. For barn
swallows, it
seems all they require is a vestibule which has cover and in shade. Up
north,
my mother lives on the ocean and the swallows nest around and under her
eaves.

Martins don't build mud nests, but are cavity nesters. If we don't supply
them
with habitat, we may see them gone in a hundred years or so.

I know I sound like a fatalist, maybe I am, but it's sad to me that wild
life
has to depend on use to provide food and shelter or they may disappear.

V

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 20:34:35 GMT, "Larry" wrote:

This is the link that show the plans for the tower -
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/nature/b...wift-index.htm

That is the link to the plans that N. Wooly posted early on:

Contact Paul and Georgian Kyle at the Driftwood Wildlife Assn.

That would be easier to build than a masonry chimney. I think the key
to this is the cooler internal temperature but I would need to be more
informed on what the Kyle's have worked out.

Rusty Mase


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