where have all my swallows gone?

[A993LAD]

I live on a small farm in West Sussex. normally we have loads of swallows hunting over the fields in family groups and even still breeding in the barns in August.

during July there was still plenty of them around in the normal way but the first week of August they all disappeared.

there are now no swallows in the area at all. I have been keeping a close eye out for any since the start of August and not seen a single bird.

normally they are here right through until the end of August and often well into September.

I expect it is down to the drought weather and probably a lack of food because it seems the insect numbers have also reduced.

so I'm wondering if the swallows have stayed in the UK but just gone somewhere else where they can find food. perhaps further north where there has been plenty of rain in Scotland and the northern counties. or have they instead started their migration South much earlier than normal?

I didn't notice any of the usual large group gatherings on the electric cables and phone wires which would suggest they had started their migration.

[Monkeylegend]

We have had the same with Canadian geese.

Up until this year we have had very large numbers from spring through until late summer, flying backwards and forwards in formation twice a day to the lakes and wheat fields for feeding. They are an amazing site when they fly across in formation.

One day In mid September last year I was taking the dogs for a walk through the usual fields of cut wheat etc and there were well over 200 geese, as was normal, sitting in the fields and eating and eating loose corn.

The next day they had all flown to wherever the went over winter and have as yet to return.

I saw four flying in formation a couple of days ago and that has been it.

I suspect the drought and lack of water in the lakes they congregate on has something to do with their absence this year.

[butchstewie]

This is one of those questions where depending how far you trust it AI absolutely nails it.

Gemini said:

Your observation aligns directly with how swallows respond to summer drought and declining food availability.

The short answer is **a combination of both local relocation to damp habitats and early post-breeding staging**, rather than an immediate 6,000-mile flight to Africa or a northward journey.

---

1. What Happens When Drought Hits Breeding Grounds?

1. # 1. Relocation to Local Wetland "Refuges"

When dry weather bakes the Sussex countryside, soil-derived and aquatic insects (like midges, crane flies, and lake flies) crash. Rather than flying hundreds of miles north to Scotland, swallows make short-distance, tactical shifts.

They abandon dry farmland and move to nearby damp micro-habitats within the county or region, such as:

• **River valleys** (such as the Arun, Adur, or Ouse)
• **Lakes, reservoirs, and coastal wetlands** (where water-emerging insects are still hatching)
• **Irrigated pastures or cattle farms** with fresh dung and sheltered tree lines

To an observer on a single farm, it feels like the birds vanished overnight, but they are often foraging just a few miles away where airborne food remains dense enough to sustain them.

1. # 2. Aborted Late Broods

In a typical summer with moderate rain, swallows will routinely raise a second or even third brood into late August or early September. However, raising a late brood requires two critical things:

1. **Mud** to construct or repair nests.
2. **High insect density** to feed hungry nestlings.

When drought dries up mud sources and causes insect numbers to drop, swallows cut their losses. Adults cancel further breeding attempts early, leaving the nest sites in early August to focus purely on their own survival and fat accumulation.

---

1. Why Weren't They Gathering on the Telegraph Wires?

The classic sight of hundreds of swallows lined up on roadside wires usually happens when family groups assemble on their local breeding territories.

When food collapses early:

• **Roost Shift:** Swallows skip the prolonged wire-gathering phase around farmsteads and shift directly into **reedbed roosting**.
• **Safety in Numbers:** At dusk, scattered birds from across the region gather in large wetland reedbeds or tall osier beds to sleep together for thermal regulation and predator protection.
• **Invisible Disappearance:** Because these roosts occur in nature reserves, marshes, or river mouths, the farm-level departure seems abrupt and quiet.

---

1. Have They Already Migrated South?

Rather than an immediate departure across Europe, most of these swallows are currently in a **"nomadic staging" phase**:

• **Fat Accumulation:** A swallow must nearly double its body weight in fat before attempting the crossing over France, Spain, and the Sahara. Flying south prematurely without these reserves is lethal.
• **Drifting, Not Flying Direct:** They are likely slowly drifting southwestward along river networks and coastlines across Southern England, feeding opportunistically wherever insect patches appear, before making the cross-Channel leap.

---

1. Summary

| Question | Likely Reality |
| --- | --- |
| **Did they head North to rainier areas?** | **Unlikely.** They rarely fly north in August. Instead, they move laterally to local river corridors, lakes, and marshes. |
| **Did they start migrating early?** | **Yes and No.** They abandoned breeding territories early, but they are likely staging in UK wetlands building fat reserves rather than having crossed to Africa already. |
| **Why no wire gatherings?** | Drought forced them directly into large communal reedbed roosts away from farmsteads.

[A993LAD]

Great AI info so thanks for replying.

[andylaight]

you could do something to help them as you're the landowner or tennant, no??

[hidetheelephants]

Probably, between householders putting up swift boxes and farmers altering land management to increase habitat for the swifts and the stuff they eat there are things that can be done.