It's not that I am tired of posting bluebird pictures, although I sometimes worry that some of you may be. It's just that a pair of tree swallows (TRES) has decided to nest in the spare nest box I keep handy for when I have a house sparrow problem. This particular box is mounted on a steel rod with a foot much like that of a shepherd's hook, which makes it handy to move when needed. Anyway, last Fall I had stuck it in the ground in our big daylily bed hoping the chickadees might nest in it. Instead the TRES found it and have built a nest. They have been in and out of it for a week and today I discovered the first egg. Although they seem concerned about the loud clicks of my camera's shutter, they are not shy and will let you walk up to within a few feet of them I have gotten some pretty good pictures (both of the mom and the pop separately, and in flight and mating on the fence). In the next few weeks I hope to get some nice colorful shots with them among the daylilies (there are more than 50 plants in that bed and some of the stalks are already almost as tall as the nest box.)
