Our 4 baby swallows are beginning to outgrow their nest! This is them trying to sleep tonight.
We had a swallow’s nest two summers ago in this same spot (above our front door). They had two batches of babies that year. The first batch had five (all survived) and the second batch later in the summer had four (only one survived).
Then, last year, two swallows returned only for a brief few days (no babies though we did see some broken egg shells on the porch below) and then they just disappeared. Their nest finally fell off the house over the winter.
Then, just around the time I was considering renting a power washer to *finally* clean up all the poo since their nest was gone, on Memorial Day weekend they surprised us by returning and rebuilding their nest. I wish I knew if it was the same couple or if it was one of the baby birds from the first year, returning to the place of their birth? I think it may be a previous baby OR that perhaps momma swallow has a new mate, because her old mate used to roost faithfully on the nearby porch light and I don’t know where the male is hanging out this summer (but it isn’t on the light or nearby that I can see.)
At any rate, the pile of poo continues to grow but we don’t mind. We love seeing those cute little birds peeking over the side of the nest. I just hope they all make it.
