When it rains it pours tree swallows and blue birds

I'd love to see them persecuted.

Me Too!

You guys are just the best. Funny you should mention the paper . . . . we must have been on the same wave length this morning, because I did just what you suggested. I contacted the editor of our local paper through email and gave him all the particulars. I included several photos for him to choose from. I also called the Veterinary Hospital, wildlife hospital, and rehabbers just in case someone turns the birds in.

I think you are correct dellrose that the thief is a showoff. The weird thing is that the nesting box hasn't shown up. That is just creepy. I'm going to mark the boxes so that it will be clear that if they are in someone else's possession they re stolen.

I drove around the neighborhood again, and met more residents. I was surprised at the number of people who had wonderful comments about the birds, and enjoyed watching the progress from afar.

Do you have another nestbos to mount so that the parents can nest again while they are "in the mood"?

Maybe after the article is read the residents will organize a neighborhood watch program for the nesting birds. That would be cool if they did!

I think she said that they were checking out the box by the tree swallows.

OP...I am stunned that anybody would go to the trouble of taking a nestbox down and take off with it. Unbelievable!! I hope that your pair regroups and makes another attempt. And I hope that whoever did this horrid thing will be ratted out and prosecuted.

:-(

Well I'm back from a week at work camp. I don't know why I think it's necessary to go to camp to work. I sure have enough work at home. Anyways, it's always interesting going with 25 teengs/young adults.

The story was in the local paper on Thursday. Very well written. My friend, Dave, from the NY State BB Society was contacted by the banding company when a girl reported one of the birds. As I thought, it was found in the neighborhood I drove around in. Of course, I drove up and down the street on the day the bird was found. Maybe I should have hiked through some backyards, and I would have found the bird. Sigh. Anyway, the bird died four days after the vandalism. I would still like to talk to the kid(s) that did this. The interested teacher that I am, I will contact the little girl that tried to save the bird. Apparently, she would like to be a vet when she grows up. I'll see if she wants to get involved with the birds.

Good news! Thankfully, birdie, I have 3 boxes up, and the parent blues picked one nearest the tree swallows on the day they lost their brood. I'm happy to report they have 4 lovely eggs. It's been two days since the 4th was laid. I'm wondering if they've started incubating. The sparrow spooker was made by a student's dad and was attached on the day egg #1 was laid.

Lastly, the swallows all fledged a couple days ago. What a filthy mess they left!

Hey, OP, how about an update. I hope you have good news to report.

Dave

Sorry I've been out of town a lot, and out of touch. I do have great news, Dave. The second clutch fledged exactly one week ago today. Two days later I watched the parents feed the juvies. Three females were sitting side by side on a tree branch. The little male was in another tree. I continue putting out meal worms, but the parents seem to have taken them away. I think they will be back so I continue putting meal worms in the feeder I used in the spring outside my classroom.

Thanks for the update, OP. And congratulations on the successful fledging. You were due for some good news.

My fourth nesting (her second successful nesting) is going well. This time they are in the NABS type box that is further way, but looking through the telephoto lens I saw nestlings moving around in there this evening. I have been monitoring them via the nest cam so I knew they were alright.

They should fledge thursday or friday. With this heat (100 degrees yesterday and 98 today) I expect they will go thursday and I have cleared my calendar accordingly.

Here's Mama yesterday, still feeding insects for the most part.

And here's Papa (AKA StepDad). He was headed to the box with an insect when I put more mealies out. So he had to pick up at least one.

Very cool Dave! By now your family must have flown the coop. I've continued leaving mealworms, and they've disappeared, but it's been about a week and a half since I saw the family. Figure they've moved elsewhere while basic training takes place.

I hope to see them soon since school (blah) starts in a couple weeks.

Yes OP, they fledged successfully a week ago. Actually, one fledged on Thursday and the other three on Friday. The first one was somewhat unusual. He scooted out to the edge of the hole and jumped, then seemed to have second thoughts and hung there by one foot for a few seconds.

Then he fluttered to the grass under the nest box

I was surprised that neither parent flew to him. A minute later he flew up and onto the deck, remained under a table for a few minutes, then he flew up onto the railing where he sat, scratching, stretching and sunning himself for a few minutes. I was using three cameras mounted on tripods but fortunately I had an extra camera handy, so I grabbed it.

next.

Now this was weird. He spread-eagled out like this for at least 30 seconds. I don't know if he was sunning himself or what. So different from their usual routine where they can't wait to get as far away from the nest box as possible.

At this point Mama came to him with food, and then tried to get him to follow her to the trees.

Instead he flew back to the nest box, landing on the roof, where he remained for at least 30 minutes, checking out the world from amidst the blowing Mylar strips of the sparrow spooker. During this time he was fed by a fledgling from the previous clutch, and refused at least a dozen hints to follow one of the parents up to a nearby tree. I was beginning to get nervous since I had seen a hawk in the yard the day before.

I was also surprised that the parents seemed so calm/ They kept trying to get a second one to fledge.

Here is the juvenile from the previous clutch, feeding the first fledgling.

But he sat there and watched while the juveniles fed his siblings still in the box.

Finally, when he was good and ready, and totally on his own, he flew up to the gum tree

The next day the other three fledged in much more the normal fashion. Lots of peeking and suddenly, number two was gone. It was mid day and the sun was getting brighter so I was adjusting the ISO on one of my cameras. I watched him fly by, but totally missed getting a picture.

I was ready for the third one and captured some pretty nice pictures with two of my cameras. Here are a few taken with the 200mm f/1.8 telephoto lens. As you can see, I managed to get five shots of him in flight before he cleared the camera's field of view. Well, almost five. The last shot is a partial.

Hopefully the DG server will let me post all of them.

The "leap of faith"

He had his eye on the trees and flew very well.

Next

Here he is almost out of the frame

And here he is.

OP, I hope you don't mind my hijacking your thread again. The thread I had going was already way past the legal limit and I was too busy to start another one.

But I am very proud of my birds. They handled it very well. I have seen and photographed three of the four being fed in the trees and this morning one of the young fledges flew down to the deck for the first time. In fact, he tried to fly in through the window where I was standing and after bumping it, hovered there for a few seconds like a hummingbird. I had a camera but he was so close had to step back. That startled him and he flew back to the trees. I expect all four of them to come down to the deck in the next several days.

That is so adorable Dave!!

Thanks for sharing them with us.

Love to see the siblings helping out. Also, interesting to see how tiny the wings are on a newly fledged.

Beautiful shots of fledging day Dave. The tails on the babies are so short it is hard to imagine they can fly but you've got great shots to prove it. I've never seen an older sibling feed the younger ones and the spread-eagle shot is too cute. Well done...as always!

Ditto Dellrose. Fledgling #1 certainly is a nonconformist, and has a mind of his own! I wish them all well. Pretty amazing year for you, Dave.