Nesting...

I knew that the Purple Martins were back and have been meaning to head up to the Refuge to try some photos.  My timing was perfect as they are still gathering nesting material which meant lots of activity and some interesting shots.  In truth, I took over 1,000 images but most were not keepers.  These are very hard birds to photograph because, like swallows, their flight pattern is very fast and very unpredictable and it's quite difficult to keep them in the viewfinder as you swing madly around.  It was a good warm up, though, and I will likely go back tomorrow depending on the weather.

This bird is a female and she's carrying a large dead leaf.  I watched them plucking live leaves off some small trees as well as gather grass from the meadows.  Mostly the males serve as escorts and guardians although I did see some of them carrying small amounts of nesting material.  I'll put a male in Extra as well as a shot of both sexes on the ground.  They are beautiful birds and I could watch them for hours as they swoop and glide and chatter.  I saw/heard a total of 30 species while I was there today, not bad considering I wasn't putting much effort into anything other than shooting martins.  The day started heavily overcast but now the sun is out and the humidity is creeping up.

It's almost time to go pick Jax up - I predict he will be pooped as I know he got some play time in with several of his dog friends.  I like this facility because they really take care to pair dogs up rather than just putting them all out in a free-for-all.  So Jax has dogs that they know he plays well with and he'll get one-on-one sessions with them throughout the day, with lots of napping in between.  He's always so excited to get there - it's fun to watch him get all wiggly and happy.

I made the rounds of all my nest boxes today and am happy to report that there are two House Wren nests (one with 3 eggs and one with 4) and one bluebird nest with four eggs.  No sign of the swallows, but time will tell.  

xoxo
Debbi