Date: 6/18/25 8:04 am From: Kendall Zook <kendallzook98...> Subject: Bank Swallow colony, Crawford Co.
Hello all,
I've been suspicious for some time that Bank Swallows have a nest near the vicinity of the Seneca District of the Erie National Wildlife Refuge. I do landbird surveys for the refuge and I regularly get them on my survey routes, too regularly to be simply passing through. But I didn't know of any active colonies, and a search on eBird didn't shed any light either. Today after I finished my survey route I decided to nose around and see if I could find a colony at any of the local gravel pits. The first pit I checked was abandoned, and no swallows, so I kept nosing along. I was pretty sure I was on the right track because I saw several Bank Swallows flying over the fields as I drove. I found an unmarked gravel pit on Mackey Hill Rd. that I didn't even know about, but I knew immediately I had found what I was looking for because I could see swallows circling and diving over the pit. I didn't have time to watch for long, so my estimates were very quick, but a cloud of at least 50 Bank Swallows was circling around a colony with an estimated 150 holes. I observed birds entering and exiting nesting holes, so I assume they are feeding young. Obviously birds are foraging far from the colony, so I didn't see all the adults, but there could easily be a 75-100 pairs nesting. I'm so excited because I didn't know if Bank Swallows nested in Crawford Co. anymore. I certainly didn't know of any active colonies in the past years.
