I don't know if anyone is interested or not, but I've been keeping records of barn swallow nesting in our garage since 1997. This year the first nest fledged the earliest ever, with four young, on July 1st. The second nesting fledged today, again with four young.
The latest fledge that we've had is September 5, 2003, with only three birds. I was really worried that year because the usual hundreds of swallows that perch on the phone lines before they leave had already gone. That year the first nesting fledged on July 13th.
Usually the time between fledges is 7-8 weeks, but in 2014, there were only four weeks between them. The first group fledged on July 4th and the second on August 7th. These are records from the same nest, not two different ones. And it's very easy to tell exactly when the young leave the nest because they hang out on the garage doors and we can't open them.
Does anyone else keep track of their nesting/fledge dates? I would be interested to know of the weeks between nestings.
Thanks,
Linda Scotland
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