True to form

Had a tremendously relaxing weekend here at the farm. Every weekend before this I've gone to the coast, but this time I decided to stay. I've done little but lie around and read and write and bask in the sun, and it has been everything I needed. I am ready to begin again tomorrow, refreshed and filled with gratitude for the life I have here.

Set up off the deck of the intern house is a small wooden nest box. The day I arrived, there was a pair of Tree Swallows occupying it, though apparently not nesting just yet. Today marks one month since I arrived on the farm, and the swallows still hold claim over the box, and little by little they seem to be preparing to start a family. For at least a week they've been lining the box with duck feathers, which is a distinctive trait of their species. This one bringing the feather in this morning was delayed a few moments by another swallow, a Violet-Green, attempting to steal the feather from it while on the wing. Somehow it warded off the would-be thief after much mid-air tussling, swooped in, and quickly found a place for it along the interior of the box.

Just a few hours later, while reading my book on the deck, I heard an unusually excited twittering coming from the box and looked up in time to catch our pair mid-coitus! I've got 5 more weeks on the farm, so hopefully I'll be able to observe the results of their intimate activities before I leave.