'tis the season for ... swallows?

[Jens Svensson <>]

Hi Susanne

I have seen swallows at the airport many times in winter, but mostly on sunny days in  August.
I saw 6 swallows just past the tip at Tarago (Lumley Rd.) 4 weeks ago.

I guess the winters in Canberra are not quite as cold as winters in Europe so they can cope by staying the nights in protected places like the  covered carparks.

Jens

--- On Tue, 12/7/11, Susanne Gardiner <> wrote:

From: Susanne Gardiner <>
Subject: [canberrabirds] 'tis the season for ... swallows?
To: "canberra birds" <>
Received: Tuesday, 12 July, 2011, 11:41 PM

Hi all

a couple of weeks ago I flushed about 6 swallows or something like that from one of the rafters in the Canberra city west car park (level 4 1/2) on one of those very cold and blustery evenings. They were so fast that I honestly couldn't tell, what it was, except they were light under and dark on top and had swallow like wings and flying pattern. (There are bats in the city west car park, too, but they look and fly differently)

Today 2 swallows (or something like that) were doing arials at the southern end of Ebden Street, Ainslie. They virtually dropped out of the sky from considerable hight and then leveled out just above the grass. This time I was driving and couldn't concentrate too much on identifying the birds, but they looked like swallows. 

Do we have swallows all year round in Canberra? Couldn't find anything conclusive on the net, yet, but would have thought that they migrate at least a little bit. Or is this my European brain thinking?

Sorry, I can't be more specific regarding an ID. 

Cheers, Susanne