It's 2008 and we're gonna have another go at it with the gourd rack.
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I never mentioned it last year, but we actually got to watch 4 little tree swallow squirts fledge from the only nest and family started. In fact, I think I was sitting right here at the keyboard (probably scanning the you-know-what forum) when I saw some activity out of the corner of my eye (the PC hutch is right next to the window that looks out into the back yard). Anyway, I jumped up, called out to D-ski, and we ran out into the back yard to watch. It is pretty funny. They lean out and drop, flapping their little wings to-beat-the-band, and bounce across the top of the lawn for about 50 or 100 feet and stop wherever it is that they aimed. One was in the weeds in the field, one was between a bush and the garage, I can't remember the others. They stop, gather their wits and breathe for a minute or two, then take off for a nearby tree limb. After a couple of hours of cruising the neighborhood, they would come back like little flying aces and show off, shooting into and right back out of the gourds. Amazing.
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Anyway, a pair of
sub adults tree swallows (my bad) arrived 1-1/2 weeks ago and are very interested in housekeeping. Could be from last year's brood? This morning, they landed on the railing of our deck that looks out towards the gourd rack and seemed very comfortable. It was the first time that I can remember
PM's TreS landing that close to the house. I was real careful to not scare them off thru the windows and moved slowly to retrieve the new 8 MP 12x optical zoom point/shoot. I took a couple pics thru the glass and they didn't seem to care. So....I popped the lock on the French glass door and swung it open. They still didn't care at 12 feet away. I took a few shots; then they decided it was time to scram. I blew this pic up a bit. Not bad for a $200 cam with a rank amateur on a coffee buzz.
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