Have they gone to insecticides, every one?
To the Expositor:
Does anyone know what has happened to all the swallows, swifts and martins which used to abound on Manitoulin and indeed in Sudbury? They used to build their mud nests under every roof eve and to fill the martin boxes which people erected in their yards. They could be seen everywhere in wonderful flight, swooping and diving while they scooped up insects on the wing. In the fall they would gather in their hundreds on the roadside telephone and hydro wires before migration where their places have now been taken by starlings.
Have they fallen victim to widespread use of insecticides, did they succumb to some disease or did they perish during migration as a result of storm? The only place I have seen any in the past few years is at South Baymouth where a few pairs can be seen, presumably nesting, under the ferry dock. Their disappearance seems to have garnered much less attention than the marked reduction of the monarch butterflies. Incidentally their disappearance began well before the erection of the windmills which are blamed by some for much mortality in the bird population!
Eric C. Macleod Sunsite Estates
