This year, four of them showed up and had a tremendous battle over who was going to get custody of the barn this year. They fought so hard, two of them fell down and landed right on top of Ramsey. Lucky for them, Ramsey really does put up with just about anything. Eventually, they sorted themselves out and the winning pair built a new nest. I'd been watching to see when a baby might appear and caught the first glimpse last weekend. That same afternoon, I heard a big barn swallow ruckus going on and made it to the barn just in time to keep this fellow from getting murdered by the darned cat.
I don't know how he ended up down there, but he was clearly not ready to leave the nest so I set about trying to figure out how to get him back up there, fifteen feet in the air. I fetched the ladder, got it all set up, and just at that moment, the little brat took off and fumbled his way out the window to crash land in a tree. I looked for nearly an hour and couldn't find the rotten little devil. I finally gave up, feeling certain that he wouldn't last the night. An hour later though, I heard him and so did his parents. He'd managed to get up in a tree and his parents had found him.
I've been watching them all week. Poor mom and dad, beside themselves trying to deal with their precocious child. Little junior flapping about, falling out of trees and, gradually, learning how to fly even without all his feathers.
This morning, they all stopped by for a visit and all three resumed residence in the barn whenever they need to stop for a rest.
Something tells me that this little fellow is going to be just fine. He (or she, how does one tell?) is obviously an independent, tough-minded sort.
Happy Independence Day.
Stay safe and have a good holiday folks. I'm going to take the weekend off, I hope to see you all still flying when I get back to blog-land:)
