Swallow Nest on my Porch -- Updated 2014

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April 22, 2014, was a wonderful day! A pair of Barn Swallows finally arrived and began flying over the porch. They also began perching on the utility wire over the driveway to take breaks from flying around and catching insects. Here is a photo of the male, taken April 24, 2014. I was not able to get a photo of the female at that time.

A few days later, I was standing inside my apartment with the door open and witnessed two Barn Swallows through the storm door. They were flying under the porch eave toward the nest and close to my door. Unfortunately, when the pair saw me inside the door, they quickly left. They were obviously investigating the nest as a possible site to lay eggs and raise their young!

On the morning of May 2, 2014, in very low light, I was able to photograph a pair of Barn Swallows perching on the utility wire above my driveway. Having studied the markings on the two swallows who had arrived on April 22nd, I determined these two swallows to be the same pair. On the left with the longer tail is the male, while the female is on the right.

For the first week after the two Barn Swallows arrived on April 22nd, they were the only two Barn Swallows in the neighborhood. However, by early May, there were several Barn Swallows flying above my building and swooping down to catch insects in the nearby field and horse pastures. On the morning of May 2nd, I noticed two Barn Swallows flying back and forth over my building, from my porch to the rear of the building. They were swooping to catch insects, both in the air and on the ground.

It then occurred to me that the Barn Swallows may have been scooping mud from the ground instead of catching insects there because that is what they do this time of year when they are either building new nests or refurbishing old ones. Since the swallows were continually making trips over my building, I wondered what their destination was.

I then walked around to the back of my building, arrived at the front building, and approached the nest that my landlord had told me about in 2013, the nest in which, during July of that year, I had witnessed four soon-to-be Barn Swallow fledglings. The nest was still intact and appeared as it had in July 2013.

The nest is under the eave of what was formerly a porch roof. Several years ago, the entrance door on the porch was removed and a wall built over the opening. Below, left, is a photo of the part of the front building that shows the structure that was formerly a porch. One must walk under the roof to the inside of the "porch" enclosure to view the nest. The nest is located above a small ventilation window. In the photo on the left, the lower half of the ventilation window appears within a white oval. The photo on the right shows a close-up view of the nest, which is about eight feet from the floor of the enclosure. This particular photo was taken on July 3, 2013, when there were baby Barn Swallows inside the nest, but the appearance of the nest has not changed since then.

As I approached the nest area on the morning of May 2, 2014, I noticed a Barn Swallow (probably a male) perched on the adjacent utility wire, only about six feet away from the nest. He was obviously guarding it! I decided not to go inside the enclosure so as not to upset him. As I continued to stand in front of the enclosure, that Barn Swallow flew from the wire, and two Barn Swallows began flying back and forth in front of the building where the nest was located. They did not swoop me, but flew very close to where I was standing.

This confirmed to me, at least provisionally, that the nest on the front building would be used this season. I did not see that any mud had been added to the nest, and the nest is too elevated for anyone to see if the swallows had begun adding feathers to line it, but the way the swallows were guarding it, their intention was very clear to me!

I could not determine at that time if the two Barn Swallows guarding the front building's nest were the same two Barn Swallows who had arrived on April 22nd, but, at that point, I was assuming that they were.

The morning of May 5th was very cold. I could see my breath vapor, and there was ice on the rear window of my car. I noticed a pair of Barn Swallows on the utility wire close to the neighbors' property. From a distance, they did not appear to be the same pair that had arrived on April 22nd. The chestnut color on their faces seemed much brighter, and they both appeared to have a white line on their upper backs that I had not noticed in the previous Barn Swallows. I attempted to photograph them, but they flew away before I could do so.

A while later, I noticed that the same pair of Barn Swallows was perching on the corral fence in the neighbors' horse pasture. I could see them from my porch, but they were at quite a distance. I walked up to the fence at the edge of my driveway that borders the neighbors' property and proceeded to attempt to photograph them. Although I had carefully focused my camera, each photo was turning out blurry. Upon returning inside to my apartment, I noticed that my camera lens had become covered with water condensation. Here is the best shot I could get of the pair on the fence.

You can see in the above photo that these two Barn Swallows had more white on their upper backs and wings than did the Barn Swallows who arrived on April 22nd. I also observed that their faces and throats were of a brighter chestnut color than those of the swallows who had arrived on April 22nd.

The temperature was warming up; so I decided to again venture to the front building, as I had on May 2nd, wondering if I would see any Barn Swallows guarding the nest. I was not disappointed! As I approached the building, a pair of Barn Swallows flew to the utility wire adjacent to the wall of the building. The part of the wire where they were perched is shown by the red oval on the upper left in the photo below.

The photo below shows the pair of Barn Swallows perched on the wire that morning:

The two Barn Swallows stayed perched there and preened themselves most of the time. The fact that they stayed there and let me take numerous photos of them told me that they were not overly concerned about my being there, but were staying at their guard posts just in case I might decide to venture closer to the nest.

Now that I have studied their photographs, I believe that these were indeed the same two Barn Swallows who had arrived on April 22nd. The male is brightly colored and very handsome. The female is also quite good looking, but has a more lightly colored breast and abdomen than does the male. Her tail barely extends beyond her wing tips, while the male's tail characteristically extends farther. Below are close-ups of the male on the left and the female on the right.

The morning of May 6th was very foggy, not good for photography. My porch was wet, showing that it must have rained during the night. I looked outside my door and was surprised to see a pair of Barn Swallows perched on the same part of the neighbors' corral fence as I had photographed the pair the previous morning! I concluded that, more than likely, they were the same pair.

I then returned indoors. A little later on the same morning, I ventured out on the porch. There were no longer any Barn Swallows on the corral fence, but I saw six of them perched on the utility wires close to the neighbors' property. One was alone and joyfully twittering. About ten feet farther away, there was another one on the upper wire and four on the lower wire.

The swallows would fly from the wires, only to return a few minutes later. I then noticed a pair of swallows flying to the neighbors' corral fence, only this time to a different location on the fence from where I had seen the pair earlier that morning and on the morning of May 5th. They stayed there quite a while, long enough for me to view them through binoculars. By studying their markings, I could tell they were the same two swallows whom I had seen and photographed on the morning of May 5th!

It is interesting that I have never observed any adult Barn Swallows perching on the corral fence for any length of time, as these birds did on the mornings of May 5th and 6th. The only Barn Swallows that I have seen perching on this fence were those who had fledged from my porch nest in June 2012. This makes me wonder if one or both of these adult swallows was/were hatched on this property and therefore remember perching on this fence once they were out of their nest(s).

It is also interesting that, while these two swallows were perching on the corral fence on both mornings, they were facing toward my porch. This made me wonder if they were considering the porch as a nesting site.

Regarding the six swallows that I had observed on the utility wires earlier that morning (May 6th), those same wires served as a gathering place for juvenile Barn Swallows for about a week during August 2013. During that time period, the juveniles had seemed to be using the wire as a place to flock together prior to taking off with the adult swallows for their long migration to Central and South America. So, again, perhaps the Barn Swallows on the wire on the morning of May 6th were first-year birds who had hatched and fledged in this neighborhood last summer.

Late yesterday afternoon (May 10th), I returned home from a craft show at which I had set up a handcrafted jewelry booth and began taking numerous trips between my driveway and the inside of my apartment to unload boxes from my car. At one point, while still inside my apartment and heading toward my door, I spotted two Barn Swallows flying just outside my door around the old Cliff Swallow nest! However, when they saw me approach the door, one of them scolded me and they both flew away.

Unfortunately, this door is the only one I have through which I can exit and enter my apartment. There is no back door. The same is true for my two next-door neighbors. So I made a few more trips to my car and back again. In the meantime, I looked up to the utility wire, and saw a pair of Barn Swallows perched there, facing me and the porch the whole time.

After I finished unloading my car, I rested for a while inside my apartment, and then decided to go out and sit on the porch. It was early evening by that time, around 7 p.m. or later. As I sat there, a couple of Barn Swallows began flying over the porch, crosswise, about 6 or so feet above my head. Just moments afterwards, more Barn Swallows arrived and did the same. They did not "swoop" me, but to me, this was a sign that the nest, or at least the porch area, was being guarded!

Today, May 11th, is Mother's Day. Mother's Day of 2012 was the day I discovered two Barn Swallow eggs in the porch nest. At that time, it was a regular Barn Swallow nest, built by the swallows in 2011.

But this year it looks like a typical Cliff Swallow nest, enclosed, with only a small entranceway, due to the nest's modification by Cliff Swallows during July 2013.

This morning (May 11th) I was outdoors bright and early. There were several pairs of Barn Swallows flying over this property and the adjoining one, catching insects and seeming to be gathering mud on a bare spot in the neighbors' horse pasture. I did not notice any of them flying toward my porch. But I was delighted to be able to photograph one of the pairs resting on the nearby utility wire.

I do not know if this was the pair whom I saw yesterday in the nest area on my porch. This morning, while several pairs of Barn Swallows were flying around, I saw at least two of them fly in and out of the neighbors' barn, so there is probably at least one nest inside that structure. There is also the nest on the front building, as mentioned earlier.

With regard to the old Cliff Swallow nest on my porch, my extensive research has not revealed whether Barn Swallows can successfully use an old Cliff Swallow nest. But this afternoon I peeked through the blinds of my door and spotted two Barn Swallows again flying around the nest area! One of them flew away, but the other landed on my next-door neighbors' door ledge. (As explain in my book, my next-door neighbors' door was and still is only inches from my door, and we share the same porch.)

Over the next few minutes while I was still peering out between the blinds, one or both swallows kept returning to the nest area and then quickly flying from the porch. At one point, one of them apparently flew up to the ledge above my door. Of course, I could not see it land there, but I did see it fly up above my door and not fly off while I was looking out.

A minute or so later I returned to the crack in the blinds and saw a beautiful-looking Barn Swallow perched on my porch rail, about seven feet from the nest. Poor thing! He (it was probably the male), looked a little breathless and worried, probably from seeing me peer out toward the porch.

My curiosity then got the best of me. After the Barn Swallow had flown from the porch rail, I ventured out my door and looked up at my door ledge to see if any mud had been placed there. There was no mud that I could see. Neither was there any newly placed mud on the old Cliff Swallow nest. I was still wondering if the Barn Swallows intended to build a new nest somewhere on my porch or just use the old Cliff Swallow nest.

Yesterday evening (May 10th), after unloading my car, I briefly visited my neighbors in the apartment right next door (we share the same porch). One of my neighbors told me that she had seen a Barn Swallow go inside the nest, and then come out again.

The nest is viewable from inside my neighbors' apartment if they have their door open, as they did yesterday evening. While I was sitting inside their apartment, my neighbors and I saw the pair of swallows repeatedly fly up to the porch near the nest and made scolding sounds. I thought that the sounds were directed toward us, but my neighbors thought the swallows were communicating with each other. While watching from inside my neighbors' apartment, I did see a swallow poke its head inside the entranceway to the nest!

I am praying that the pair of Barn Swallows will start feeling more at ease in their seeming new venture of using the old nest or perhaps building a new one on the porch. It is incredible to me that there are so many sites on the Internet dealing with how to get rid of swallow nests while I, on the other hand, am desperately hoping that Barn Swallows will nest on my porch and not abandon the idea the way they did in 2013!

A few days after May 11th, my neighbor told me that she had seen both Barn Swallows perching on the ledge above my door, facing the nest. Recently, however, I have not witnessed any Barn Swallows flying under the eave of the porch in the vicinity of the nest.

Early on the morning of May 17th, I was refilling a suet feeder on the tree next to the driveway, about forty feet from the porch nest. To do that, I have to use a stepping stool. While I was on the stepping stool, two Barn Swallows, flying close together and in tandem, flew close to my head, making their alarm sound of "chi, chi, chi", as described in my book.

This was a rather new experience for me. In past years, I have had one Barn Swallow at a time "swoop" me, that is, fly toward my head, then quickly veer away from it, but I have never had a pair of them fly very close to me, with both sounding their alarm calls.

While I am out on the porch, a Barn Swallow will occasionally fly just a few feet from my head, across the porch. However, the Barn Swallows are not swooping me. If they were doing so, I would think it would mean that eggs were in the nest.

I had almost given up hope that the Barn Swallows are planning to use the nest, when, this evening right around sunset, I noticed a pair of them on the utility wire that attaches to this building. The swallows were perching approximately twenty feet from the nest. I ran inside to get my camera, but by the time I returned to the porch, they had flown off.

My only guess is that one or both swallows might be "first-year" birds, meaning that they were hatched last year, and are taking their time to mate. The female may not fertile as of yet

I'm trying to be open to all possibilities so as not to be disappointed if the swallows decide not to use the nest. My understanding is that, if they were indeed planning to use the nest, they would start modifying it in some way by adding mud to it and lining it with feathers. I have not seen evidence of either.

Success! Around 5:30 this afternoon, the two Barn Swallows were again perched on the utility wire that attaches to my building, and this time I was able to photograph them! The photo appears below. By studying their colorings and markings, I have concluded that these are the same two Barn Swallows I photographed on the neighbors' corral fence on the morning of May 5th (see previous blurry photo) and observed again on that same fence on the morning of May 6th. As previously mentioned, both times the swallows were facing my porch, but from somewhat of a distance.

Here are other views of the Barn Swallows on the wire this afternoon. On the left is the female; on the right, the male.

Time will tell whether these two swallows will use the porch nest. As to gender identification of these two birds, male Barn Swallows usually have longer tails relative to their wing lengths than do females. Although the wings of the bird on the right are not quite as long as those of the bird on the left, the tail of the bird on the right extends a little beyond the length of its wings. Therefore, I think the bird on the right is the male. In addition, the breast markings of the bird on the right correspond to those that I have observed on typical male Barn Swallows of our North American subspecies, as explained in my book.

This afternoon I was on the porch with my camera, heading out to the driveway. A swallow flew across the porch directly in front of me, within a foot of my head. I proceeded to the driveway, and, as I was standing there, two swallows flew across the porch. A couple of minutes later, there were four, doing the same thing. This told me that the nest was definitely being guarded.

I returned indoors, then went back outside a little while later to look for the Barn Swallows that I had seen yesterday afternoon on the wire. I saw a Barn Swallow pair perching on another nearby wire, but a third bird about their size swooped down at them, causing both of them to fly away. I immediately assumed that the third bird had been a male Barn Swallow wanting to mate with the female of the pair.

A little later, I happened to look toward the west and saw two birds perched on the distant fence that separates this property from one of the horse pastures. Through my binoculars, I could tell they were Barn Swallows. They were probably the same two that I had seen on the wire yesterday afternoon because these two seem to like to perch on fences. They may also have been the same two that I had seen on the wire a few minutes earlier, the two that had flown from the wire when the third bird had approached.

The two Barn Swallows on the fence took flight as I was approaching them with my camera. I then happened to see a Robin foraging in the grass. I kept viewing the Robin to see if there was a fledgling Robin nearby because yesterday I had seen a fledgling Robin emerge from the tree near the driveway where a Robin's nest has been. Then today, I had seen and photographed a fledging at the edge of the bamboo at the front of the building.

The Robin started acting as if it knew that I was looking at it, so I decided to go up to the porch and hide in the alcove near my door and also near the swallow nest. That way, perhaps I could see if the Robin was feeding a fledgling.

As I was standing in the porch alcove, a bird suddenly swished behind my head and left the porch. It even brushed the back of my hair, which was a rather petrifying experience! This told me that a bird had been in the nest without my knowing about it and, upon seeing me on the porch, had quickly flown from it. "Wonderful," I thought, "the Barn Swallows have started to use the nest! Perhaps there is an egg inside!"

I then re-entered my apartment and called my friend to tell him about the bird flying out of the nest. A few minutes later, I looked out my door at the nest. A bird's head appeared at the nest's entrance hole, but to my surprise, it was a CLIFF SWALLOW! I could identify it by the white triangle on its forehead.

I ran to get my camera, but when I had returned to my door, there was no bird at the entrance hole. I went out on the porch and saw a couple of swallows flying overhead, but I could not tell if they were Barn Swallows or Cliff Swallows.

Since I was unable to photograph the Cliff Swallow at the entrance hole of the nest, the following photo shows approximately what it looked like. You can see the white triangle on the bird's forehead, identifying it as a Cliff Swallow. (This is actually a photo from July 10, 2013 after Cliff Swallows modified and took possession of the old Barn Swallow nest.)

The event of my seeing the Cliff Swallow in the nest this evening was a game changer. I am assuming it means that the pair of Barn Swallows I photographed yesterday afternoon on the wire next to my building will not be using the nest.

However, this event was quite a LOGICAL game changer. It makes sense that Cliff Swallows would take over possession of the nest because it is indeed a Cliff- Swallow-style nest now and has been so since last summer.

Also, the fact that the bird actually brushed the back of my head makes more sense now that I know it was a Cliff Swallow rather than a Barn Swallow. Although in other years Barn Swallows have swooped me and flown within a foot of my head, they have never come in contact with my head or any other part of my body. However, Cliff Swallows tend to be more awkward. Their bodies are a little chunkier than those of Barn Swallows, and they seem unable to maneuver as quickly and as accurately as Barn Swallows do. Cliff Swallows also seem to be more vicious than Barn Swallows, at least vicious toward each other. I am basing this on the behavior of the male Cliff Swallow in the nest during July 2013, while he was pecking at the other birds who were trying to enter the nest, thereby deterring them from doing so.

Thinking back on this afternoon's earlier event of the third bird swooping down toward the pair of Barn Swallows on the wire, I am now wondering if the swooping bird was a Cliff Swallow intimidating the Barn Swallows from perching so close to the nest, thereby attempting to thwart their plans of using the nest. It would make sense that the Barn Swallow pair would then choose to perch farther from the porch and nest, especially if the pair whom I had seen on the fence soon after the event was the same pair that had earlier been perching on a wire near the porch.

Also, I am wondering if the swallows flying across the porch when I had first ventured outside this afternoon with my camera were Cliff Swallows rather than Barn Swallows. Unless one can notice whether the tails are forked or not, they can be either.

Well, that is all at this stage of the saga! Will post more as other events occur.

This morning around 8:30, from inside my apartment, I peeked through a crack in the blinds to the porch and saw a bird fly from the nest area. It was a Barn Swallow! Seconds later, it returned, only to fly away again.

This was a baffling experience to me in light of the fact that I had seen a Cliff Swallow peeking out of the nest on the evening of May 21st.

Late this afternoon I left for the grocery store and saw no swallows on or around the porch. I returned home around sunset and proceeded to bring my groceries inside. After unpacking the groceries and putting them away, I decided to peek out the blinds again. Again, I saw a bird quickly leave the porch area! This time I could not tell if it was a Barn Swallow or a Cliff Swallow.

I am partial to the Barn Swallows because they are such sweet birds. But this year, I am trying to accept whatever Mother Nature has in store. It is unfortunate for the birds that the only entrance or exit to this apartment is through the door that leads to the porch nest. The same is true for my two next-door neighbors. So there are three of us who must traverse the porch whenever we are entering or leaving our apartments.

As the days go by, it seems more and more likely that it will be a pair of Barn Swallows, not Cliff Swallows, who will be using the porch nest. Although I have not yet seen a Barn Swallow enter or exit the nest, I have often seen at least one of them guarding the nest from the utility wire that adjoins the building. Here is a photo from the morning of May 24th of one of them doing so:

When either I or one of my two neighbors stand on our porch for any length of time, the pair of Barn Swallows will start flying back and forth above us. Sometimes the two swallows will make their alarm sound to call their friends, who appear out of nowhere and join them. This can result in six or more Barn Swallows flying over us, one by one, in an erratic pattern. If we choose to sit on the porch, they will no longer fly overhead, as long as we sit at least ten or so feet from the nest.

On the morning of May 25th, I decided to again visit the front building to check the progress of the nest there. Sure enough, a Barn Swallow came flying out of the alcove, and a second Barn Swallow also appeared. Both birds then landed on the utility wire adjoining that building and let me take some photos of them. During most of the time they were preening themselves, perhaps an instinctive activity deliberately engaged in so that they would appear unalarmed. Here is one of the photos I took of the pair. The bird on the left appears to be the male because his tail extends far beyond the tips of his wings:

The Rhododendron in front of the building is now in bloom. The following photo shows the location of the nest, which is just above the high ventilation window under the alcove. If you look carefully, you may be able to see it in the upper part of the photo:

I believe that there are eggs in that nest because one of the swallows momentarily landed on it for a few seconds after I had taken the photos of the two on the wire. I then left the vicinity of the building so that they could have some peace.

Today is Memorial Day, May 26th. Early this morning, around sunrise, I ventured out on my porch and saw the pair of Barn Swallows perched on the utility wire above the driveway. After a few seconds, they both flew off together into a playful pattern with one another. Soon afterward, one of them landed on the wire adjoining the building, and that one looked to be the same bird that I photographed there on the morning of May 24th (see previous photo).

I am wondering if there is an egg in the nest. There is no way to check for eggs by putting a mirror above the nest because the nest is now enclosed, due to its modification by Cliff Swallows last summer. It is possible that the female could be spending the night there without my seeing her leave the nest in the morning. Barn Swallow females generally lay one egg per day in the early morning, but they do not start incubating the eggs until the day before the last egg is laid. That could explain why I still see both birds out on the wire during the daytime.

I often go out on my porch just before sunset to find out if one or more Barn Swallows are hanging around the porch. If so, that assures me that they are still using the porch nest. During other years, when the nest was cup-shaped like a regular Barn Swallow nest, my neighbors and I could easily see if the birds were incubating eggs or not. This year, with the nest having been enclosed at the top by Cliff Swallows last summer, we are unable to see what, if anything, is going on inside the nest.

So I went out on the evening of May 29th around 7:15 pm to move my car. My car was parked in the driveway, but I needed to reverse its position in preparation for loading the trunk the next morning. The whole time I was out there, I saw no Barn Swallows on or near the porch at all -- none flying around, none perching on the wire, none flying over the porch. So I was quite disappointed, wondering if the birds had abandoned the nest.

I kept hearing a vehicle engine running and soon realized that it was my neighbor's truck idling in driveway that we share. However, there was no one in sight around the truck or in it. I kept expecting one or both neighbors to come out of their apartment (next door to mine), but no one did so. At one point I did see one Barn Swallow flying high overhead, but not close to the porch.

I returned inside, disappointed and worried that the swallows had abandoned the nest or that something bad had happened to one or both swallows. But then I had a sudden realization.

I realized that since I had instinctively expected to see one or both of my neighbors in the driveway any minute because their truck was running, the swallows must have also expected to see them! The swallows must have been waiting from a distance for humans to appear and finally leave the driveway so that they could fly to their nest in an undisturbed atmosphere. The swallow that I had seen flying high in the air must have been one of the pair that is using the nest, presumably the male.

I finally knocked on my neighbors' door and they answered. One of them had started the truck more than an hour earlier and had forgotten that it was still running! So that's why no one was out in the driveway while the truck was idling.

This morning (May 30th) at 9 a.m., I went to put my trash out for pickup and decided to stay outside looking for swallows. Finally, about fifteen minutes later, while standing on my porch, a Barn Swallow appeared and flew just a few feet from my head, continually criss-crossing the porch! What a relief to know that the nest was still being guarded!

I returned inside my apartment and closed the door to give the poor swallow some peace. However, I couldn't resist looking out through a crack in the blinds, at which time I saw the swallow fly up toward the nest, then quickly leave the porch. That bird was so astute to have seen me peering through the blinds! So I decided to refrain from looking through the blinds, assured that the nest was still being used.

As relieved as I was this morning of May 30th to see finally see a swallow again guarding the porch, I was even more relieved late this afternoon while I was loading my car in the driveway to go to the laundromat. Mr. Barn Swallow was perching on the wire above the driveway!

Ever since May 20th when I saw the pair of Barn Swallows on the wire next to my porch (see previous photos under May 20th update), I have seen only one Barn Swallow at a time on the wire, and that Barn Swallow has looked to be the male. This makes me think that there are eggs in the nest now and that the female is busy incubating them, with the male guarding the nest.

Well, I finally saw two Barn Swallows on the wire above the driveway yesterday evening instead of just one! So now I don't know what to think. And they may even be a different pair from the pair I saw on May 20th on the wire adjoining the building. Neither bird seems to have the white spots on its wings or back the way the pair from May 20th did, although it could be that additional plumage has grown in by now. On the left is the pair I saw yesterday evening, and on the right is the pair from May 20th.

I still have not seen a Barn Swallow enter or exit the porch nest. Sometimes this species does take a while to court before the female starts laying eggs. Each day brings a different surprise!

A few years ago, I would not have been thrilled to see a Barn Swallow zooming right toward my head, but that is what happened this morning the moment I stepped out on the porch. This means that they are still interested in the nest! Later I saw one perched on a nearby wire, and through binoculars it appeared to be one of the pair that I saw close to my the building on May 20th. Still later, one zoomed across the porch and landed on a mimosa tree about 30 feet away. It was the first time I've ever seen one land on a tree, and I'm sure it was watching me!

Barn Swallows have apparently been applying mud to the top of my neighbors' porch light, shown on the left in this photo. The second porch light belongs to me, but it does not have a flat enough top for Barn Swallows to even perch there, much less build a nest.

I am dubious as to whether they will continue building the nest, however, because my neighbors often have their porch light on at night. Here is a close-up of their light:

I had to leave early this morning to set up for a craft show. As I descended the porch stairs on the way to my car, a Barn Swallow zoomed toward my head -- a very positive sign that they are guarding the porch and planning to nest there!

Early this morning I again ventured out onto my porch on the way to the craft show. To my surprise, unlike yesterday morning, a pair of CLIFF SWALLOWS, not Barn Swallows, was flying overhead! Such a drama! Which will it be: Barn Swallows or Cliff Swallows nesting on the porch? I wonder if the Cliff Swallows are chasing the Barn Swallows away. As always, time will tell.

It has been pouring rain this afternoon. At one point, when the rain had let up a little, I went out on the porch and saw the male Barn Swallow perching on the nearby utility wire, adding to the suspense of which type of swallow, if any, will be nesting on the porch.

CLIFF SWALLOWS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE NEST! At 7:40 this morning I looked out my door and saw a Cliff Swallow in the nest! My neighbor (who shares my porch) was already out in the driveway working on his vehicle. He told me that the minute he had opened his door to go outside earlier this morning, a bird had flown from the nest.

I had to take the photo below through a crack in my blinds and two 2 layers of glass so as not to scare the bird away, hence the poor quality. If you look to the left inside the nest's entrance hole, you can see the bird with the white triangle on its forehead, identifying it as a Cliff Swallow rather than a Barn Swallow. Ever since this morning, two Cliff Swallows have been busy adding mud around the entrance way to the nest.

I've never read anything about swallows marking their nest with a feather, but that's what they do. As a final touch after they have completed the nest, they attach a feather to the front of it. I've come to believe that, aside from it being a decoration, it is also a mark of ownership. The feather you see on the front of the nest, below the entrance hole, was placed there by Cliff Swallows in July 2013 after they had completed their modifications to the old Barn Swallow nest. IT STAYED ATTACHED ALL WINTER LONG!

Yesterday, this year's pair of Cliff Swallows patched the entrance hole with mud, then added a couple of strands of straw over the hole, as if to give them more of a sense of privacy. In the photo below, you can see the straw over the left side of the hole in the photo below. Perhaps this is also a type of mark to signal to other birds and to us humans that it is THEIR nest now. The following photo was taken this morning through a crack in the blinds and through three layers of glass.

On Saturday morning, June 14th, I was finally able to photograph Cliff Swallows perching on the utility wire near my backyard (see photos below). These birds, who have historically nested in colonies under bridges and other large structures near water, are quite abundant in the Western U.S., but they have been gradually moving farther and farther east, or so I've read. Last summer was the first time I began seeing them around this property.

Interestingly, I live about 12 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, where, in January 2013, construction began on Interstate 68, very close to the Potomac River. Interstate 68 functions as an overpass over the downtown area of Cumberland. I wonder if Cliff Swallow nests were destroyed when the construction began, forcing the birds to relocate when they arrived in the spring of 2013. At any rate, we have even greater numbers of them here this summer. Here are the Cliff Swallows on the wire yesterday morning. The white patches on their foreheads help to differentiate them from Barn Swallows.

I hope they will stay in the porch nest because there was a cat on the porch today.

Today I walked over to the front building and was thrilled to find baby Barn Swallows in the nest! The parents were ferociously guarding the area; so I quickly left after snapping a couple of photos, one of which is below.

Nothing significant seems to be going on in my porch nest at the moment. A few weeks ago, it seemed that Barn Swallows would be using it, but they apparently decided not to do so. As of this date, I have not seen any Cliff Swallows in the nest, which makes me wonder if they have also abandoned it.

However, there is still hope. The other day while I was out on the far end of the porch, two Cliff Swallows, one-by-one, flew under the alcove where the nest is, and then quickly left. I am still hoping that birds will be using the nest in July. The straw at the entrance hole is now gone, but I do not know why. Perhaps a new pair of Cliff Swallows has removed the straw.

I visited the front building again today and found the baby Barn Swallows even cuter than they were on June 17th. The parents did not like me being there; so, again, I took only a few quick photos. The babies look like they have now acquired most of their juvenile plumage and will be ready to fledge any day now.

This morning greeted me with a wonderful surprise. I looked up on the utility wire, and there were five baby Tree Swallows! The two adults whom I had seen in early April had seemed to disappear by the end of May. But now I understood where they had been -- nesting! As I watched the babies on the wire, their parents would fly to each of them, one-by-one, quickly feed them, and then fly off again. Two of the babies appear in the photo on the left, with one of the adults on the right. Earlier this spring, the adults had not allowed me to get close enough to them to take good photos, but now they were doing so, perhaps so that they could stay close enough to their babies to protect them.

After taking several photos of the Tree Swallows, I walked over to the front building. There were no longer any Barn Swallows guarding the nest area. As I approached the nest, I found it to be empty. I was not overly surprised, however. Judging by the mature appearance of the babies on June 22nd, I had thought that they would fledge sometime within the next few days. After finding the empty nest, I happened to look up at the utility wire. A juvenile Barn Swallow was perched there, but an adult quickly flew to the wire and shooed the juvenile away.

So it seems that the Barn Swallow babies have now fledged. The good news is that at least three new Barn Swallows have been added to the local population!

Thanks to the Tree Swallow babies still being perched on the wire this morning, with the adults still on the wire protecting them, I was able to get my best adult Tree Swallow photo to date. It is most likely the male because of its bright coloring:

GREAT NEWS! Early yesterday evening when I returned home from the grocery store, my two neighbors were waiting for me at the top of the porch stairs. After I ascended the stairs, they both excitedly pointed to the nest. There was a baby inside!

I was shocked and thrilled at the same time. My neighbors and I saw only one baby at the nest's entrance hole, but we assumed there were others inside. I was immediately filled with deep concern because I was wondering if all of our pointing and waving of hands would scare the adult Cliff Swallows away from the nest and cause them to abandon their babies. After unloading my groceries, I quickly went inside my apartment to view the nest through a crack in my blinds.

Today I was able to photograph, through a crack in the blinds, one of the parents guarding the nest ...

and later, one of the parents apparently feeding at least one of the babies.

The parents are staying busy, not only feeding the babies, but also adding more mud to the nest. They seem to be able to do both on the same trip to the nest. Here is a photo I took later this morning of a baby in the nest. You can see the new mud that the parents have added at the bottom of the entrance hole.

And there is definitely more than one baby in the nest. In the photo below, if you look carefully, you can see a second baby at the lower left of the entrance hole.

In addition to feeding their babies, the parents are still adding more mud to the nest's entrance hole. Here you can see one of the parents with mud on its beak, with one of the babies visible at the far right of the entrance hole. The dark areas above and below the hole show the still-wet mud that the parents have recently applied.

I have seen at least three different adult Cliff Swallows enter and leave this nest. However, apparently, not all of the birds are allowed to enter, as shown below. It is interesting that, in the second photo, the bird at the entrance hole appears to be a baby, as shown by the white feathers on its chin.

Below is a photo of both an adult and a baby in the nest. Interestingly, today I observed a parent Cliff Swallow arriving and feeding a baby, and then quickly flying from the nest. Seconds later, the baby also flew from the nest! A while later, the baby was back. So I guess that while they are still learning to fly and catch insects on their own, the babies return to the nest and continue to be fed by their parents.

Cliff Swallows apparently live communally, not in nuclear families. This afternoon I exited my apartment, stepped onto the porch, and THREE adult Cliff Swallows flew from the nest. This was not surprising to me because, as previously mentioned, I have observed three birds entering and flying from the nest for the past few days.

For days I have unsuccessfully attempted to get a photo of the Cliff Swallows in the nest without having to shoot it through the glass of my two doors. When I go out on the porch, the adults will fly from the nest, and the babies will dip down inside it, making themselves invisible. The other day I cracked the door open and tried to photograph the nest without any glass in front of it. However, the next thing I knew, my indoor cat Chloe was out on the porch! She had obviously slipped out the door without my seeing her do so. Fortunately, I was able to immediately grab her and bring her back inside.

After sunset this evening, my next-door neighbors returned home and turned on their porch light, which is only a few feet from the nest. Taking advantage of the extra light, I shot these photos by the only method at which I have previously succeeded -- through a crack in my blinds and through two layers of glass -- only this time the nest and baby were illuminated by the porch light.

Here are two photos of one of the babies that I took this afternoon. To avoid using a flash, I turned my porch light on, set my camera's ISO to 400, opened up the aperture slightly, and used a 1/30 shutter speed.

Late yesterday afternoon, a ferocious thunderstorm swept through our area. The winds were fierce, causing the building to vibrate. Our power was off for more than five hours. I have not seen any birds in or near the nest today. Perhaps they decided that the nest was not as safe as they had thought it to be!

There are still no birds in the porch nest, meaning that the babies must have fledged during the past two to three days. While I was outside early this morning, I occasionally observed a few Cliff Swallows overhead. A couple of them seemed to be smaller in size; so I assumed they were probably the juveniles who have fledged from the nest.

In retrospect, there must have been eggs in the nest on June 13th when I had first observed the Cliff Swallows guarding the nest and adding mud to it. The swallows had attached the two strands of straw over the entrance hole on the same date. Perhaps the straw was to provide extra defense against would-be predators by the swishing sound that would result when a predator would brush against it upon attempting to enter the nest.

Given that Cliff Swallow nestlings are said to stay in the nest 20 to 26 days, there could have even been fresh hatchlings in the nest on June 13th. Assuming July 9th as a fledging date, the interval between June 13th and July 9th is 26 days.

Early this morning I also observed Barn Swallows swooping in the nearby field and sometimes flying over the porch. Perhaps they were saying "hello" because I'm sure they recognize me from being out in the driveway taking so many pictures during the last few weeks!

While I am ever hopeful that another pair of birds will use the nest this summer for their second brood, it might be getting too late in the season for that. Time will tell. At any rate, I am most grateful that my porch nest was used to raise baby birds this year.

I have written a book about Barn Swallows originally building the nest in 2011, and then using it to raise the three broods of 2011 and 2012. The book explains how I determined that one of the fledglings from 2011 returned in 2012 and claimed the nest for his own. Also included are two examples of how that former fledgling of 2011, who returned and claimed the nest in 2012, twice attempted to communicate with me. Shortly after the second communication, I discovered what he was trying to tell me! Over 100 photographs are included in the book, many of them of Barn Swallow babies. There are even some photos of Barn Swallow juveniles perching on the utility wire, nine days after leaving the nest. For those who are interested, the book is entitled Bonding with the Barn Swallows and is available on Amazon at

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1494481464/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1494481464&linkCode=as2&tag=barnswalfrie-20&linkId=JNK4O4JMGK2QOCOU

Further information about the Cliff Swallows and the summer of 2013 will be included in a forthcoming book, which will also include details about nest activity during the summer of 2014.

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