Bernie,
This year in late May and June we noticed fewer swallows in our
neighborhood in Shiga Prefecture (Kansai area), Japan. Normally
there are about four nests along our short street, but this year
there was only one (in our carport). All five young ones survived
and flew on June 10th and came back to roost at night for several
days. In previous years we'd seen 15-20 young swallows sitting on
power and phone lines, but this year there were just "our" five.
Several neighbors commented on the dramatic drop in the number of
swallows this years.
I have not noticed any other big changes here in Shiga, especially
near Lake Biwa. We have a large population of crows, and along the
Yasu River there are a lot of birds and other creatures. (I saw a
fox a few days ago.) I have not done much recording, and I have not
been in the mountains, so this is just a rough impression.
Greg Peterson <>
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