Earlier this spring I had a family of swallows above the door to my rock shop. About the time those babies were getting ready to learn to fly and leave the nest another young pair of birds started building a new nest right next to the original one.
The second pair were younger and slenderer than the first. I’m assuming they were last summer’s babies. The young couple worked tirelessly for probably a week, maybe more, patiently building the nest out of grass, mud, feathers and even some horse hair. The young mother finally settled onto the nest to lay eggs and incubate them. The expectant father brought her food faithfully several times a day.
Once the babies hatched both parents kept busy feeding the babies. It was cute when one of the parents flew into sight four wide open mouths appeared at the edge of the nest. Mom and dad poked food into the babies faces.
They are finally gone, flew away this past week but were fun to watch while they were there. Even if they did leave droppings on the door step. It’s a small price to pay for the entertainment. I do love to watch them swooping and catching mosquitoes in the evenings.
Check out the natural creativity the parent birds displayed in building this nest. Note the horse hair hanging down. There is a feather caught in it and even the bird droppings that have coated a couple of the horse hair strands. It looks almost like a dream catcher doesn’t it? Wish my creativity was that spontaneous and natural.
