Supporters of barn swallows to protest building demolition in Mass.
HADLEY, Mass. (AP) — Supporters of what is believed to be the largest colony of barn swallows in Massachusetts are planning to protest the proposed demolition of the colony’s decades-old nesting habitat.
That habitat, according to the group Save Our Swallows, is an abandoned stables building at the Fort River Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge in Hadley.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to demolish the building. The group planned to protest Saturday near the service’s complex in Hadley.
This July 13 ,2018 photo shows a barn from the former Bri-Mar Stables in Hadley, Mass., now part of the Fort River Division of the National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, and is home to a population of barn swallows.
Critics say the demolition would lead to the destruction of the unusually large colony — about 37 nesting pairs last year.
The group said the birds have almost completed their winter migration and are set to return to the building in the next three weeks.
In this July 13, 2018 photo, a nest of barn swallow eggs is reflected in an illuminated mirror held by Devin Straley of Leverett, a senior at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont, in the rafters of a barn at the Fort River Division of the National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Hadley, Mass.
