Coming Home...

Peace and rest at length have come,
All the day's long toil is past;
And each heart is whispering
"Home, Home at last!"

~ Thomas Hood

A darling pair of tree swallows have taken up residence at Sunflower Ranch. Did they pick one of the perfectly aged and correctly sized cedar nesting boxes we have placed around the porch? Did they nest in one of the towering Douglas Firs that edge our lawn to the West? Well, no, not exactly.

Their new home is the same place they nested last spring when we were moving in, too -- in a nook over the front door!! Our front door is at the East end of the porch and the roof sweeps up to a short peak, which is bisected by angles from the skylights over the kitchen. Wedged in between all this is a very small "cave" of sorts. That's where Mr. & Mrs. Tree Swallow [whom we've named Lucy and Ricky] took up residence last year and have returned to again this Spring. They have a lovely Eastern exposure with abundant sunshine [of course on those rare mornings when we don't have heavy clouds or rain...] and seem to be very industrious preparing their nest.


They have been dive bombing the yard and street and entertaining us with their aerial acrobatics now for about two weeks. Since then we've had several freezing nights and much wind and temperatures lower than normal. But as soon as it becomes sunny during the day they're out catching the updrafts and gliding all over the neighborhood, grabbing insects out of the air and diving low to snatch up nesting material. They take turns flying up to the nest with a mouthful of building material, slip into the nook and then quickly fly out again. [On cool, rainy days they seem to be less active.]

One thing we've tried to do is not linger near the front door -- no need to upset them. We're pretty sure we can all live in harmony, but only time will tell. At least for now, they're our littlest neighbors and we've welcomed them home for another summer at the Ranch.

Life is good!

Click here for more information on Thomas Hood and Tree Swallows.