Birds

This is our third June on the farm and the birds are an interesting element. The original roof, the leaking one, had holes in the Facia boards. The nesting birds took advantage of that. House Sparrows, Grackles, Starlings and Purple Finches ruled the roost, literally. When the barn was installed they made themselves at home as well. The next spring Barn Swallows showed up, briefly, but didn't nest in the barn. This Spring they arrived and they stayed! I love seeing them flying in and out of the barn, across the pastures or sitting on the fence rails. In the last two weeks there have been seven or so dead birds, all different stages of development, found dead in and around the barn, in the water buckets, on the railing at Skip's feeder, on the stall or aisle floor. Most look like Sparrows, some not more than a squab. Nothing fouls a bucket of water faster than a dead floating bird.