The previously-mentioned barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) have laid eggs now. I had to use a mirror (the gold stuff at the top), as Errant suggested Saturday, to get the picture.
A web cam, which some of you suggested, was never going to happen -- we don't have one already, and the money's not there to buy one. As Pat said, checking on the nest too often may cause the parents to abandon it and start elsewhere, so I will try to restrain myself, but I don't think I'm capable of leaving them alone entirely. One hopes they'll forgive me.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Animals: The barn swallows
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3 comments:
Cornell has a cool citizen science project called NestWatch. Basically, ordinary swallow-watchers like yourself keep an eye on nests they find and log basic info about the nest, which is then passed on to researchers. You can learn more at their website: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects/clo/NestWatch/
Hey, that looks like my egg! I wonder if I had a barn swallow, too.
Zach:
I agree that the egg appears to be of about the same size and is similarly patterned, though the nest construction doesn't (lots more mud involved with barn swallows, from what I've seen on Google), and the coloration you described at your post (plain brown with orange beaks) doesn't quite match either -- barn swallows are dark blue-black with an orange face and front. How close of a look did you get of the birds?
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