Ponder this:

Friday, July 20, 2012

Baby birdie

I took these two photos of a barn swallow chick on July 7, the first day we saw him out of the nest. It was, clearly, a little bit too early for his capabilities. 

Sitting on the gravel in front of the barn door. 

I herded him closer to the building so he wouldn't be quite so obvious to MiMau, should she pass by. 
She never seemed to notice him. 
Angus did, though, from inside the house. 
What a ruckus!

These next three were the next day. We were so glad to see that he'd made it through the night. He had overnighted in the barn. At about 9pm Husband had seen him in there, perched on a pile of tires.

"More breakfast!"
Mom and Pop were dropping by every fifteen seconds with food to stuff down his throat. They needed to get him grown and strong fast!


Mom and Pop Swallow, and the entire clan, were practically pulling my hair out strand by strand as I took these pictures. Very conscientious parents, except for that letting the baby out on his own thing.

And on Monday afternoon, the little baby was perched on his pile of tires inside the barn. Husband went toward him, and our baby birdie took off and flew in a circle three times and then out the barn door and up over the roof.
He must have surprised himself with such a feat!

The whole swallow squadron came out again and I'm sure knew exactly where he was . . . they were swooping way back in the field behind the barn. That must have been where the baby was. Of course we don't know now if he grew to dependable flying age successfully, but Husband says he saw three swallows flying together a couple of days later. 
Two of them had complete and pretty swallowtail feathers, and the one in the middle did not.

20 comments:

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Hurray for the little swallow! Such a cutie, thanks for the photos.

DJan said...

My sister had morning doves that had two babies that fledged and spent the night hovering under a bush in her back yard. She kept checking on them and eventually they got back into the nest. Fledging is a dangerous time for little birdies who haven't quite learned how to fly. Love your pictures!

Olga said...

Oh, they do grow up so fast. I find the swallows very amusing. They play with chicken feathers from next door, tossing them and then swooping to catch them.

Freda said...

What a wonderful story. I'm for believing the three birds were parents and offspring.

Barb said...

You got some cute photos, June - quite a tiny fledgling. I'll show my Grandkids when they arrive.

Carolynn Anctil said...

Oh, what a cutie. I'm glad to hear that the parents didn't give up on the little tyke, just because he opted to leave home a little sooner than his siblings. So glad this tale has a happy ending.

Anonymous said...

This is so lovely! xxx

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Poor little tufty scrap !

georgia little pea said...

A happy ending. Nice. I hope your swallows aren't as vindictive as our noisy miners. The last time I saved a baby bird, they didn't let me forget it for WEEKS! I think I'm on the bird hit list here. Ouch.

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Thankyou June for risking your hair to bring us this lovely story. Over the years I've watched parenting by some species of birds that has left me stunned with awe and admiration.

Hilary said...

Oh that adorable little mess! I'm sure he did alright if parents were on top of feeding him and he did have some flight ability. Isn't Nature so amazing? Thanks for sharing this story and your wonderful photos, June.

Grandmother Mary said...

Great story!

Eilidhbelle said...

Aww, this is such a lovely post! Gorgeous pictures too xx

Unspoken said...

Sigh.... nothing like a baby! Here from Hilary's.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

A little birdie named Hilary sent me here. Congrats on your POTW!

TexWisGirl said...

swallows are some of the cutest baby birds! so glad your little one made it! congrats on your POTW!

Kerry said...

Cute little miracle! I'm so glad you captured him/her? with your camera and the story has a happy ending.

Out on the prairie said...

the leaning to far out of the nest can be tough,it is always fun to watch them learn

Joanna Jenkins said...

Yeah for him! Success.
Congrats on your POTW from Hilary!

Freda said...

I'm for the successful flier ending to the story. He/she looks so cute!