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Tree Swallow Nest IV

This will be the last photo of my Tree Swallows. The nestlings now have near fully grown flight feathers and today they were peeking out the entrance of their nest box. Today the parent birds also caught me peeking in the nest box and they were not too happy about it. I wait until they parent birds disappear on a forging trip before opening the box, which I do only for a minute, only long enough to hold my camera above and take a photo, and then I retreat before the parent birds return, but today that didn't work out. Both parent birds started diving at me, coming within an inch of my head, and "escorted" me away from the area. They were surprisingly aggressive, but birds do become increasingly aggressive near the end of their nesting period since they have a lot invested in their young at that stage, so a once placid and tolerant bird may suddenly become the opposite. Once I was far enough away, the parent birds returned to feeding their young, which was happening very frequently today compared to other days. It appears that feeding activity increases at this stage of development. Next will be to check if there is a House Wren nest in any of the other boxes, perhaps next week.


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Mary Bowles06-Jul-2011 16:28
A great story, most interesting.
Being dive-bombed by Tree Swallows sounds worrying. (You could call this story The Great Escape, but I fear someone has already used the title.)
By the way, this is a great picture of a most beautiful nest.
Linda & Pär Johansson06-Jul-2011 15:46
Just wonderful! V
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