Fairy Martins

In the early spring the Fairy Martins return to make their nests close by where I live. The birding books say that they nest in the ceilings of caves, in overhanging banks, and in road culverts and under bridges. However, the ones that come here like the eaves of some houses. I suspect that they check out any house where there is no activity outside. Just around from here there are several favorites. These are rental houses that quite frequently have vacant periods. In a very short time the birds will have made dozens of bottle shaped nests under the eaves. They make a terrible mess with the mud they carry in and with their droppings as well. The longer they are left the worse it gets. This year they had just started when the ones looking after the house discovered them and took the nests down. Then they perched on the electricity wires in the street waiting to see if they could start up again. When I walked around that way the other morning they had started again! These are photos I took of the early nests they made and also of the birds perching on the wires along the road.
For more bird photographs visit the Bird Photography Weekly site.