Free insect control
 

Mosquito eaters returned toOregon's Willamette Valley yesterday.
Now I know it's spring. Yep, the tree swallows have returned.
Anyway, if anybody is interested in providing some housing for these birds, here's a link to some free plans. I modified my houses by making one side panel hinged for easy clean-out. I used nails as hinges on the upper part of the panel, drilled a hole through the bottom that I could peg with a nail to keep it closed.

http://www.choosefreedom.com/birdhouse.html

Swallows seem to prefer a house hung at least 5 feet above the ground, an open flyway, and the opening of the house facing either east or southeast. Give 'em a condo, and enjoy the show.

Cool. I watch chimney swifts eat in the evenings near my house. I'd love to put up a bat house, and even have an almost perfect place to put it. The only problem is that the guano would drip on the roof of my porch.

Yep, I enjoy watching birds...we get bats here as well, but don't think I want to put up houses. Years ago, Cindy was brushing one of the cats on the patio. I told her to toss the fur on the lawn, since I was going to mow, and the mower bag would pick it up. HA! Not a chance...with a skill an aircraft carrier pilot would admire, swallows began swooping down over the lawn, would pick the fur up in their beaks, and into the bird house it went. I guess we're easily amused. We enjoy sitting on the patio, binoculars in hand, watching the show that goes on in the swallow houses....I have 3 of them hooked to lengths of conduit that I extended out past the roofline of the woodshed.

If you have the opportunity, bats eat more insects than birds. They just tend to creep people out more easily. In MO, we have purple matins, similar to swallows. It's amazing to watch them fly so close to the ground or water. Amazing airshow. Quieter too.