Date: 07/10/2019

Number: 1

A pair of barn swallows built a nest on top of a pillar on my daughter's front porch. She made photos of the babies from time to time, and on one occasion put a little one back in the nest when she found it on her porch. I was keeping my grandchildren one day when a neighborhood child came to the door and announced that the baby birds had left the nest. I went out, climbed on a stool, took a picture, and, yes, the nest was empty. During this whole time, the parent birds were circling through the porch and around the nest...I considered taking the nest down and cleaning the porch, but decided not to. When my daughter came home she considered doing the same thing, but didn't. How glad we both were when she discovered later that day that the baby birds were back in the nest!!! Because her family went on vacation the next day we have no way of knowing how many days this occurred, but we were amazed that it happened even once! I have found no record online, including in your report on barn swallows that says this can happen. I am a 76-year-old woman with a master's of zoology and have spent a lifetime studying and watching birds and have never before heard of this. I thought you might be interested, and I would love to hear back from you about this.
Sent by : maryjowhitley@gmail.com
Name: Mary Jo Whitley

Irmo, SC

Latitude: 34.2 Longitude: -81.2

Observed by: Mary
Contact Observer

The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.