[birding] Re: news from Corvallis/ (Airlie nighthawk)

[Linda Fink]

Yep, once violet-greens and tree swallows come out of the nest box, they 
don't go back. Often sit on fence wires for a day or two and beg from 
their parents, though. I clean out my nest boxes and nest gourds in the 
fall. They can get pretty yucky and the birds don't seem inclined to 
clean them out themselves. That way I can also check for dead nestlings. 
Sometimes one or more don't make it.

Our barn swallows, on the other hand, all crowd back into their mud 
house for many evenings after they've fledged. It's pretty funny 
watching them all try to squeeze into a too-small space.

I've not seen a nighthawk yet this year over our farm. When we moved 
here in 1977, they were fairly common.

Linda Fink, SW Yamhill County, near Grand Ronde


> 
> Subject: news from Corvallis
> From: "Susan Hatlevig" <hatlevis AT comcast.net>
> Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:13:16 -0700
> Hi,
> 
> I forgot to mention that my neighbor has a bird house on a pole in his front
> yard-within a few feet of ours.  Violet-green swallows nested in it this
> year.  I had been worried about them in the intensely hot days wondering if
> they would bolt from the nest due to the heat.  However, they stayed and the
> babies got noisier and noisier.  Finally one day they were just gone and a
> few evenings later we saw 5 rather than 2 swallows in the sky.  Do they just
> immediately fly?  Should I suggest the box get cleaned out now or will the
> birds do it themselves next time?  I don't know enough about their behavior.