Hello Ohio Birders, I recollect finding dead swallows during a similar stretch of cool and damp weather in New England (June of 1953, I think). Purple martins seemed to be especially vulnerable and I don't think their numbers ever recovered, at least while I was living there. I presumed they were stressed by lack of food. Swallows do not enjoy the luxury of picking slow-moving insects off vegetation (or suet from feeders). Dave Horn Columbus Original Message: ----------------- From: R. Cook [log in to unmask] Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 12:31:22 -0400 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [Ohio-birds] Dead Swallows in Lorain county We spent the morning walking some of the trails at Sandy Ridge Metropark in North Ridgeville, and were disturbed at the number (6 to 8) of dead swallows (both tree and barn) along the paths. Others seemed to be so (weak?) they didn't fly more than a few feet before re-landing. Since I haven't heard of any malady afflicting birds, I am assuming this spring's continued cold, windy, and rainy weather may have delayed the normal insect spawns enough to reduce the Swallow's food supply and be the cause of this ? Anybody heard or seen similar occurrences elsewhere ? Bob ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com – Enhanced email for the mobile individual based on Microsoft® Exchange - http://link.mail2web.com/Personal/EnhancedEmail ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]