Swallows

Hi Andy
After migration counting for the full season last year (the first full year for me!), what I believe would be happening with the Swallows now is that the juvs of the early broods (quite a lot of these @ c 4 to 6 juvs per pair per brood ie many more juvs than adults) would be dispersing, more randomly in July but by the beginning of August, starting to move south as migration kicks in. Last year I was shocked as to how frequently and how many we could count on the move at this time of year. At a guess the early broods tend to leave the breeding areas, whilst the ads stop on to have two, sometimes three broods. Thus we found that Swallow movement here was double peaked, first in August with primarily the juvs on the move, followed by the adults and younger juvs in September. Again from what I have seen in the field, or hills might be a better description round here!, Swallows can be seen moving In at least two ways, the larger groups that you describe, sometimes feeding over a water, there one minute and gone the next and this can be quite dramatic, or a more steady flow which keeps going for longer, usually straight through but sometimes feeding en-route….. Very interested in any more visible migration sightings, especially of the common birds that you may have.
Best Wishes,
Dave.