Date: 3/1/26 8:19 am From: Sally Alhadeff via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Tree Swallows
I was very happy to see and hear the first Tree Swallows of the season flying over the back yard fields just outside Tenino this morning. Won’t be long before they start staking out the bird boxes, although they won’t occupy them for many weeks. My late husband, Bob Sundstrom, installed 50 or so bird boxes on our house and fence lines 20+ years ago. It’s one of the many gifts he left behind. Over the years mostly Tree Swallows have successfully nested in the boxes on the fence lines; the Violet-greens prefer the boxes mounted on the house and outbuildings - they especially like the boxes with the diagonal openings and almost always I find 2 side-by-side nests when cleaning the nest boxes in the fall.
In the past 10 years or so, the occasional house wren will nest along with very reliable chickadees (both types, but mostly Black-capped) and of course, Bewick's Wrens.
No Rufous hummers yet - the males usually arrive sometime in the next week and skulk around the yard for a few days. But soon the resident Anna’s will once again be relegated to 2nd place.
Based on the decline in birds we all know about, I’m more than slightly relieved when the regulars begin to show up again.
Enjoy this gorgeous sunny day.
