New Residents

A few months ago we noticed a new structure being built inside of the tower at the front of the house. Initially, I thought it was a massive mud dauber nest that needed to be knocked down, but Ced noticed the pattern of the mud did not look anything like a typical insect nest. A day passed and we finally caught a glimpse of the builders - two barn swallows were moving in!

You can see a blurry head and blurry tail feathers here.

Neither of us have ever had any experience with swallows, so we ran inside and researched their habits.  

My main concern was being too active near their nest. Anytime we go in the front yard, we would pass under their roosting area. Fortunately, swallows aren't terribly aggressive (I was expecting mocking bird terror) and adjusted to our presence well enough.

In the mornings they would exit their nest and circle the front yard until we'd leave. Even when I stood under the tower (under their nest) to try to snap some photos of them circling, they would hover, chirp, and continue their circling.

They eventually laid eggs and cared for them until they hatched (I found the remains of two eggshells).

We found this all very exciting until we came home to a dead baby bird on the sidewalk. The following day we came home to the second baby bird having fallen to its doom and the swallows had moved out of their nest. For a week we ignored the sad reminder of the swallows and clutched onto the faint hope that they would come back and try again.

Instead, a new type of bird decided to make use of the nest and stuffed it with bits of dried grass and feathers. I've yet to properly identify this bird, but it has successfully hatched a brood that chirps en mass every time we walk through the front gate. Although I'm sad that our swallows have moved on, I am pleased that the mud nest has been recycled into a new home.