Cliff Swallows at NAU (part four)

[ This is the fourth post in my series on the Cliff Swallow colony. If you haven't read the previous entries then here are links to the first, second, and third posts. ]

I was hoping that the birds whose nests were damaged last month would rebuild but no such luck. Lets hope that the birds that were in those unfortunate nests are okay and just moved to a different location further down the wall. No one else has decided to use the nests for target practice so I think removing the ammunition, i.e. rocks, helped.

Here's a picture of the colony from the morning of June 8th, about a week after the nests were damaged:

The arrow is pointing at a nest that has the beginnings of white deposits at the entrance. Once the chicks hatch the adult Swallows will dispose of the waste (pooh) by throwing it outside. The whitewash at the entrance is a sure sign that there are chicks in that particular nest.

Contrast the above picture with this one taken a week later on June 16th:

 

From the whitewash at the entrances we can tell that three more nests have hatched their chicks. Cool, huh?

Comments

[Kathy]

Very cool!! :)