This little guy's chicks fledged today. There may be one left in the nest, we're not sure - but three of them are flitting about as of this mid-morning, learning the swoops and dives necessary, with the their parents supervising each moment. He stopped a few times to check the nest and look around... he circled me many times but finally it seems neither of them squeak out any of their aggressive calls at me as they pass - looks like I'm at long last considered just a "big strange animal sometimes near the nest"... which is nice, since I live here.
As they flew around a hawk was circling above them - I wondered if it was looking for the not so good at swooping little'ns but never saw it take a stab at any of them. The kids kept trying to stop on various high evergreen branches to take a breather and their folks would quite literally knock them off those branches the moment they landed. I imagined it was a sort of "no resting yet - class is still in session! come on!" .... In any case, it was a fun morning of swallow family watching.
Pentax K-3 | DA* 300/4