Tuesday, May 20, 2008

New birdies!

Dear garden friends,

I'm always excited when I see a new bird around here that I've never seen before. Funny thing, we have many more birds here in town than we had "out in the country" at our previous house. We have a lot more of the domesticated types, such as the mourning doves, although we did have those, too.

Yesterday I came home and noticed that two birds were sitting on my front porch, one on the top of the window shutter and the other on the front porch light fixture. I didn't recognize them. Turns out, they are barn swallows, which apparently are a protected species in Texas. I noticed a little daub of mud in the top corner, and thought that it was a dirt dauber's nest. Nope, turns out it's the bird's nest. It's a tiny little thing, hanging off the boards.

When Husband and I came home from the store earlier, they swooped at us and tried to chase us away. I guess it's a good thing we don't get a lot of traffic on our front porch!

I don't have a photo yet, but here's a link to some great photos taken by Bobby Castlebury that shows the gorgeous colors of the birds. And here's more by photographer Greg Lasley. I'm hoping to eventually get some pics of my own to share here.

Note: Finally got a photo. It's a bad one, but you get the idea about how their nest looks, and where they put it. LOL.



dig it!

bobbi c.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a pretty bird! I have never seen any in our neck of the woods.

Roses and Lilacs said...

I have them in my barn. They are pretty but better still, they eat tons of bugs.

Enjoyed your site.