When migrating swallows turned her house and barn into a home from home, Vivien Reynolds thought she had hit upon the ideal deterrent.
She placed a model of a giant eagle owl high up in the barn, hoping the plastic predator’s golden eyes and sharp talons would scare off the birds.
Sadly, the swallows had other ideas. After two days eyeing up Ollie, the fake 3ft owl, a pair of the birds settled on its head.
They then built a nest out of mud and twigs – where they are now raising a family of five hungry chicks.
The swallows arrive every April after making a 6,000-mile trip from South Africa, where they spend the winter.
Mrs Reynolds, 58, of South Hams, Devon, said: “My husband and I adore the swallows and when they arrive we have them absolutely everywhere.
“But this year we needed some extra storage space in the barn so we put the owl in there to scare them off.”
“Unfortunately it took the swallows about two days to work out it wasn’t hostile.”
Mrs Reynolds has resigned herself to waiting until the birds leave to reclaim her space.

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"Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves." - The Buddha























3 Users Responded To " ‘bird-scaring’ owl becomes home for family of swallows "
Translator (1 comments) said,
8-2-2007 at 20:53:36Wow! Those swallows are brave birds. I’ve seen huge colonies under a bridge by my house – I’m pretty sure they’re barn swallows where I live – that divebomb anyone who gets too close. I’d hate to get hit in the head with one of those.
omega (86 comments) said,
8-3-2007 at 00:00:20swallows are evil, that is true…they can predict the rain though
Klioreport (1 comments) said,
8-3-2007 at 13:36:59I just wanted to say that the art work of your blog is amazing. Especially the top banner.
Interesting photos too, such as above!