Today we checked the box and there were 6 eggs. There has been 6 eggs for multiple days now. Since the female birds lay an egg every day once they have started laying, then we know that she is finished laying and is now in the process of incubation. In one to two weeks the first bird will be born!

All six of the chicks have hatched. They are still very young; the earliest possible day that they could fledge is 16 days after they have hatched. So it will take another three or more weeks until the first one fledges. Fledging is when the bird is old enough to leave the nest and be on its own.

We also caught the two adult birds of these chicks, the female and male, today. The female is a returning bird, that has came here five years in a row starting in 2022. Well the male was a new bird to creamers field. 

The female bird arrived in 2022 and nested in Box 122. Then again in 2023 in box 112. In 2024 the female bird nested in 106. Again she showed up in 2025 and nested in 121. Now this year she is nesting again in 121. Who knows where she will nest next year! 

The chicks have grown quite a bit now. Pretty soon it will be time for them to be banded. They get banded when their feathers come in. As you can see their feathers have not came yet but they have changed their color quite a bit. Today they are 5 days old. 

These are the two adult birds that are nesting in box 121. The male is the one to the left, while the female is the one to the right. As you can tell they are colored differently. The male bird is usually more blue which is shown in this photo, while the female is more brown and green. Second year females are very brown still with sometimes a little bit of blueish green. So the female of this box is not a second year. Besides that factor you can't tell how old the birds are. 

Today we banded all 6 of the chicks. They are 11 days old today! And very healthy which means their parents have been feeding them well. Day 16 is the earliest day that they could fledge. Fledging is when the bird leaves the nest to be on its own. After this day it is very important that no one disturbs the nest or the birds could fletch early. 

When birds fledge early they will not be able to survive, because they are not old and mature enough. So it is very important that they do not get disturbed! 

Today all of the chicks have fledged. That means all of the chicks are old enough to be on their own. Luckily unlike some other nests all of the chicks survived and made it to adulthood. Now they on there journey back south. Tree swallows have been spotted all over Central America during the winter months. So that is most likely where they will be going.