28 August 2006

bird land

a while back there was a nest for rent in our porch roof. earlier this summer a lovely swallow couple moved in. they brought their own stuff (turkey feathers and horse hairs) to make the place nice. they did a great job with the place but i had to feel bad for them on those really hot days. it's hot up there.


little did we know the swallows had big plans for this one room apartment. they chose it as the place to start their family. a few weeks later, little peeps came and three wobbling heads poked out of the nest for food. the parents were very aware of us downstairs neighbors... going out to get the mail was sometimes a frightening event.


it wasn't long before the pile of bird poop directly under the nest began to grow like crazy and those little featherless guys started to open their eyes and stick their bums out over the edge of the nest to poop.


for the last few days they've been confident in their ability to stand up on the outer edge and stretch out their wings. i even witnessed a demonstration of seniority as one baby swallow nudged the other two against the beam so he could have more room. today two were brave enough to fly out (or maybe they just got sick of being pushed around). at any rate the last one in the nest was apprehensive to fly out. he'd get ready, get set... then nestle back in the nest. maybe tomorrow will be his day.

4 comments:

jo said...

seriously, you guys get all the fun down south. little baby ones! it warms my little biology heart.

oh, and I wanted to ask. do they have names? Peep-peep, or Peepity-peep-peep, maybe?

Matsby said...

Do the bats that live in your porch ever try to fight these birds?

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