Good news! Our nesting swallows from last year have returned to us again. At least, we assume this is the same pair, moving back into their nest from last year. And it obviously saves time not having to rebuild your home from scratch, as we’ve reached the fledging stage some 2 weeks earlier (June 6th vs June 23rd).  Here’s the little pile of five babies all on the nest this morning.

Five on the nest

And after much flapping and  encouragement from parents, one made it to the porch light. This was the popular staging post last year, too, affording a much better view of the outside world and the invitingly strung phone lines (stage 2 landing). We have the webcam set up closeby, and have been monitoring activity. Here’s the picture at 11:33:53 this morning.

Fledging alert!

Both parents are on the far side of the light (long tails), while the fledgling (short tail) sits on this side. Successful first flight and landing!

And then there were four…

These youngsters will be returning to the nest again between flights and for overnight for a while – until they outgrow it. We can look forward to seeing the entire family flying around for a few weeks, still staying close. And since the season is yet young, we may have a second brood for this year, who knows?