Sad news today. The first sign that I should have noticed was nest material on the ground. I did notice that the nest looked a little disheveled, but I was eager to see the nestlings. I held the mirror over the nest and saw only darkness. I tried it again, then stood back and noticed the nest material on the ground. I got a step ladder and got the mirror closer and tried to take photos of the interior of the nest, no luck. Finally I put my fingers into the nest and found no nestlings. I didn't see any adults close to the nest either.
Here is the nest material on the ground. I would guess that either a cat or raccoon, possibly an opossum, could easily climb up there and get the baby birds.
Then, I went looking for a new nest to observe. We have barn swallows nesting in the goat/sheep barn every year. I have seen a successful nest almost every year. This is because the young swallows, when they leave the nest, tend to have trouble finding their way out of the barn. Frequently, one will fly into the window and I can catch it and hold it for a minute, then steer it out of the doorway.
Here is the nest in the center of the barn's ceiling. And the photo below shows what I found under the nest. I tried to look in the nest with the mirror, but it is too dark. The nest is only about 3" from the ceiling.
Then I found these eggshells on the lower level of the barn, directly beneath the egg yolk and egg fragments.
The photo below shows evidence of swallow activity in the barn on the top of the door.
This photo shows one of our sheep (Cinders) standing directly below the nest.
Barry and I went out with a flashlight and the mirror and determined that there are no nestlings in either swallow's nest in the barn.
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