I plan to keep the barn door open for them again this year... anybody happen to know when they'll start showing up again?

I hope you get several nesters in your barn :o)

It was a very hard year on the colony, perhaps does not bode well for their return. Many if not all of the hatchlings died. Most seemed to have fallen victim to our cats, a fact that I resent bitterly as I am not the cat lover in the family. Another pair I found drowned in the horse trough, for which again, I felt a certain level of culpability.

Their presence was nonetheless a delight. We felt included in their morning gatherings as they swooped around the barn and chicken coop feasting on the abundant insect population. I appreciated their company as they followed me on the tractor through the pasture.

If you don't have barn swallows on your property, I encourage you to work on attracting a colony. They have tremendous personality and are a source of real joy in the garden.