We now have three nests of barn swallows sharing our house. The first ones started on the porch on the east side several years ago. Last year another couple built on the porch on the south side. This year another couple built on the porch on the north side. All three pairs had babies this year and most of them are flying. While I was out taking pics the other day I looked up and the sky was filled with the little buggers. At least 10 were flying and four more were sitting on the roof. The ones on the roof took off before I could get the camera ready but I caught 6 of them in the air in one pic.
The dogs and the people keep predators away from them and they help keep the bugs away from us. They also give us a little bit of fertilizer. I'm going to start putting a box under each nest to make it easier to transfer the fertilizer to the garden.
Here they are in flight.
I thought I'd circle them to make them easier to see.
Here is what the little critters look like before they leave the nest.
2 comments:
I love barn swallows. Second only to Purple Martins, in my book.
Interesting to note that before man spread out over the country, "Barn Swallows" were very small in population. Their original nesting sights were caves, and the occasional hollow tree not occupied by something bigger. That limits their potential range to tiny pockets in various locales.
Now, their nests are seldom found anywhere except attached to human structures - and their range is enormous.
So much for the automatically assumed detrimental effect of mankind on the environment.
I wonder if barn owls have a similar history?
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