muddywellies
nominate your own title
North Devon, SW England
Swallows Alive!
26 May '07 9:32 pm Funny how you take what's all around you for granted. I've unwittingly been doing the same with our wildlife.
I've begun a web page to change things and posted some images of my youngest swallow chicks. I'd swear their mouths are bigger than their heads! Here's one image.
Jack Holloway
Passionate Gardener
SEQUOIA FARM Haenertsburg South Africa
Swallows?
26 May '07 10:35 pm Now we know why they are called swallows!
Mark
Home gardener & plant fetishist
Berkeley, California, USA
27 May '07 4:01 am Like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, if these chicks started to fade they would leave behind just their swallowing to join the cat's smile.
Dixie
garden enthusiast
Waikato-New Zealand
nests
27 May '07 1:11 pm Nests of most birds are a great engineering feat. I love the little swallows'nests.
In our Dairy shed at our former farm,the swallows used to build their nests on top of the plastic light shades,where it was like an undernest electric blanket for them I suppose.
Occasionally a nest would slip over the edge- how they managed to 'glue' it on amazed me anyway.
Dixie
muddywellies
nominate your own title
North Devon, SW England
Sad swallow news update
27 May '07 6:25 pm Since taking the photo I found one of the birds on the floor immediately below the nest. I suspect the parents are first-timers themselves since they originally had four birds and now there are just two. My other swallow nests are at 'full capacity'.
I replaced the chick back in the nest (still very much alive despite his fall) but the next morning he was back on the floor (still alive!), but this time some distance from the nest as though his parents had taken him away before releasing him.
Some good news. These two survivors will help their parents feed their subsequent siblings through the summer.
One of the blue t_t nests are over my front door, and they have up to about 12/13 young, I can definitely tell the parents from my office window! They're absolutely run-ragged, their previously smooth coats look like old woollen jumpers complete with fur balls. Shame!
Anna
Gone to seed
Hamilton, New Zealand
30 May '07 2:15 pm We have a swallow nest outside our lounge.If I can find the photos we took, the year before last, I'll post them.
The parents, and what we assume were their 2 adult babies, have been hanging around for the last year or so, although they didn't produce any young last season.
They're one of my favourite birds, after fantails.
Liza
gardening consultant
Waterloo, Belgium
A tender bird story!!
31 May '07 2:46 am I just discovered this tender, bitter/sweet bird story!! It is great that you watch over them, dear Michael!! And the photo of the babies is fantastic!I hope everything unfolds safe and serene for the rest of the bird family!! I adore birds so much, and my all-animals-love-syndrome made me suffer sometimes, when my cats used to bring birds in the house proudly -- I have saved a lot of them , though.... Of course, this is Nature's normal process, I never get angry with what is absolutely normal... Just think of... humans, who kill (humans and) animals just for sport excitement!!
Anna
Gone to seed
Hamilton, New Zealand
31 May '07 12:17 pm I was hoping we had baby photos but it looks like we only have ones of the adults, so this is from 2005.
