We took the boat down under the bridge to check up on the cliff swallow nests. Fewer babies than we expected, but we were happy to see three nests had hatchlings in them. We are certainly getting an education with this year's hatchings. While we were watching, one of the baby birds intentionally turned itself around so its rump was sticking out the opening of the nest and pooped. That's what is shown in the bottom picture. It's not an adult heading into the nest. We didn't know about this behavior, and we'll do a little research to verify what we saw, but it sure seemed intentional to us. What a great way to keep the nest nice and tidy! We have watched the adult wrens carry the fecal sacs from their nests, but this was even more impressive.
And this is terrific, too! I've seen thousands of these guys at New Hope; it's really dramatic. But never this close-up, so thanks for that....
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