tree swallows

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One of the things that Logan and I both love to do is bird watch. I have a friend that likes to call it birding, which I think is cute and funny because it doesn't sound like that should be a real word. Evidently it is. 

A couple of weeks ago we spotted several tree swallows flitting about our neighborhood. I loved watching them soar and swoop. They seemed like such happy birds and I thought it would be a great idea to make a bird house just for them in our yard. Well, this site enlightened me to the fact that we could not provide the optimal living conditions for these sweet creatures, so I decided it would be best to throw that idea out the window.

We did, however, have a couple of birdhouses (one made by my grandpa, and one made by Logan's) that we wanted to hang up. So, as Yoda would say, hang them up, we did. One of them is situated directly across from our dining room and kitchen windows. We were hopeful that this would be a good spot to see some bird action. We had a wren make it's nest in this box last year before we moved up north. We sort of assumed that we would get another wren, or maybe a sparrow or a house finch. No. We seemed to have gotten tree swallows.

I am both delighted and concerned as we have European starlings and sparrows that like to frequent our yard. I know the next several weeks will entail my going out into the yard to shoo off cats and predatory birds. I will be doing my best to keep them safe.