On sunny days my co-workers and I eat lunch at the picnic table outside Beczak Environmental Education Center. There’s a birdhouse on a post a few feet away, facing the Hudson River, and we often see tree swallows swooping in and out.
Today, above all the usual bird chatter, I heard an aria of high peeping. Looking around, I noticed a swallow circling from the birdhouse, over into the marsh, and then back to the little house. On one particular rotation, the bird stopped on the birdhouse vestibule and displayed a small feather between its beak. A nest contribution!I got a stepping stool and flashlight and peered in the birdhouse. I couldn’t see the baby birds, but sure heard them calling to their parents. I can’t wait to watch them get bigger and take their first flying lessons.
Dorene Sukup
Educator
