Barn Swallows ~

Our Barn Swallows returned to us this year with their off-spring to build nests and raise their young.  These amazing birds are great for getting rid of bugs!!  Before we had Barn Swallows we had TONS of wasps every summer!!  But now we see an average of three wasps each year.... TOTAL!!!  Another great thing about these birds is that they are incredible to watch!!!  If you sit outside on a summer evening you can watch these birds zip around and make tight turns just to catch a bug!!  But there are a few "cons" to these birds as well.... First of all, the butterfly population goes down :(.   And secondly, since they make mud nests it does get a little messy.  :) 

First they made their nests.  They made it mostly from mud but it had other things mixed in as well - grasses, small sticks, we even found horse hair!! 

Here is one of them that decided since all the pillars were taken... she would just stick her nest right on the wall!  It took a little longer to build but was still nice and cozy. 

Mama is sitting on her eggs.  :)

And before we knew it a little head peeped over the edge of the nest!! 

:)

There are three fuzzy little baby barn swallows in this nest.  You can't see the third one because he is in the back. 

This picture was taken this afternoon.  They are already squeezing themselves right over the nest, which means it won't be long until they are learning to fly.  :) 

{edit: Today(June 11) the little fledglings were taken out for their first flying lesson}

Happy Birding!