Because the nests are so high up, I don’t always know when there are eggs or even baby birds in the barn swallows nests.
But when the birds get a certain age, the evidence below the nest makes it clear that there are baby birds. This time it was both poop on the barn floor and feathers caught in a spider’s silk.
Then I know it’s time to look up.
And this is why, regretfully, I had to keep taking down the beginnings of the mud nest they kept trying to build on the wooden beams over my front entry door years ago. I finally resorted to tacking up a bed sheet every Spring, sort of a “Don’t even think about it!” sign. And it worked. And I don’t have to tack up a sheet in the Spring any more. And we have hundreds of swallows so I know they all found other places to nest. Just not where I have to go in and out of my house several times a day.
Yes, Jill I understand why that would be a very inconvenient place for a nest! Smart move on your part. I’m sure they found a better place for their nest.
You are such a gifted woman Maria. I want to tell you that after almost every post…but especially this morning. This video of the barn swallows is so brilliantly simple. I love the long journey up the barn wall to the nest, and then after the expectant waiting, the tiny little heads!
Oh Thank you Susan. I’m glad that “long journey” came through. I found parts of the barn wall an interesting part of it all.
So sweet! Their little beady black eyes peer over the edge of the nest, checking out this crazy woman holding up a strange object! Love them!
Ha! That’s rigth Molly!