Every year, so far, we have had a few nesting families of Tree Swallows and Violet-green Swallows. Below is a sequence of a Tree Swallow feeding its young. The whole sequence of 12 photos was taken in high speed continuous mode in just 1.1 seconds. Both parents feed the young a diet of insects they catch while swooping around the sky. I had to put a couple extra pieces of plywood over the top of their box for shade. They survived the 111 degree day we had on June 27 ! Only the baby sticking his head out the furthest seemed to be getting fed over the 90 minutes or so I was watching.
As I was shaving one morning this week, these two banditos popped up outside the bathroom window.
Trip To Champoeg
A couple weeks ago, we reserved a cabin at Champoeg State Heritage Area on the Willamette River between Salem and Portland. We took Daisy, kind of as an experiment to see how she would do. This area was the site of Oregon's first provisional state government in 1843, however the town of 200 was washed away in a great flood in 1861. The high water mark of that flood is unbelievably high above the normal water level! The park is a combination of ecological preserve, history, and recreation. It was very clean and quiet while we were there during the week.
3 comments:
Ahhh, the cheerful sights of Yachats! Those are great shots of the swallows. What a greedy baby that one is, with its sibling just barely poking out beneath it! Hopefully they both survive. Our bluebird babies are no longer chirping, but I never saw them leave the nest, so I am exercising optimism in that case as well.
Those tree swallow shots are riveting! I loved seeing the swallows swoop and dive from the Yachats badminton field. :)
Love the banditos, very familiar with their little gang from Monterey and San Diego....they will always be at it!
I think that is a female swallowtail. I learned they have more blue up the sides than the males!
Great photos, Bob. Seeing the raccoons doing their thing in your yard reminds me of the mischievous ones from The Great Outdoors. That 111-degree weather must have felt so surreal for you and Gail. I would imagine it made the local animals feel all out of sorts.
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