Barn Swallows Revisited

Don’t we just love the Guardian! “A maroon and gold fish discovered off Hawaii has been named after Obama in tribute – a worthy honor when you consider that George W Bush and his vice-president Dick Cheney have to share their names with two species of slime-mold beetles.”

 

I’ve written before about my delight in the barn swallow pair who built a nest in the eaves of my patio and raised a chick (Hirundo mattegrayi).

Well, they demonstrated that my patio was an excellent place to raise a family, so another pair built their own nest a couple of feet to the right of the first one.

Barn Swallow nests

 

And hatched a couple of chicks.

Barn Swallow chicks

 

Who grew rapidly.

Barn Swallow chicks

 

Until finally, after a good deal of sitting beside the nest and flapping their wings experimentally, they both flew.  The first landed on the patio fence.

Barn Swallow chick

 

The second alit on the ledge above the kitchen window.

Barn Swallow chick

 

And both flew away…and then realized that if they flew back to roost beside the nest, their loving parents would continue to bring bugs to them.

Barn Swallow chicks

 

Now they sleep every night snuggled up beside the nest and sometimes roost together on the light fixture.

The fringe benefit, and it’s for me, is that they’ve been seeing me on the patio all their lives and are even less perturbed by my presence than their parents, so i can get right up in their faces without their flying away.  I feel like a surrogate grandfather.

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2 Comments

  1. Rick C.
    Posted 7 September 2016 at 10:24 | Permalink

    Ha! Yes, I’ve watched fledglings of other species attempt to sponge off their folks, too. Sometimes the parents indulge for a while. A friend recently told me she watched an adult seagull angrily chase away her mooching juvenile. She (or he) had had enough! Time to make your own way in the world, kid. 🙂

    • Posted 7 September 2016 at 10:42 | Permalink

      I’ve really had a lot of fun watching these two sets of kids grow up. I think the second set is hoping i’ll figure out how to catch bugs to feed to ’em.

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