With the protection provided by Stoneywell Woods and the generosity of volunteers ensuring the table is always well stocked with suet balls, birds of all shapes and sizes are perhaps the most regular of visitors to Stoneywell. Countless bluebirds can be seen at the bird table each morning and, if you listen carefully, you can often hear a pair of common buzzards calling to one another above the tree tops.
Undoubtedly the bird that makes the most repeat visits is the swallow. Upon their return from a winter spent in southern Africa, the swallows make their nests in the stables or above the toilets, as they have done long before the National Trust began to care for the building. Stoneywell's pair of swallows will soon begin to breed, laying up to eight eggs each time. You can often hear the chicks cheeping from the rafters above and, as they start to leave the nest, they'll even come to say hello. Swallows can have up to three clutches each year, and the growing family of swallows tends to stay close to Stoneywell for the duration of the summer, until it is time to migrate in September and October.