Tree Swallow – Magee Marsh, Ohio: On the last morning at Magee Marsh I stopped to shoot the active black-capped chickadee nest shown in the previous post. Much to my surprise I found a tree swallow clinging to the chickadee’s nest entrance. The tree swallow spent at least ten minutes looking in, and around the cavity. At one point the swallow entered the cavity for a few seconds and then climbed out. Finally the swallow flew to a branch just above the cavity entrance and perched. It appeared to me that the swallow had taken over the cavity.
No sooner had the swallow flown to the branch, the female black-capped exploded from the nest, alighted on a nearby branch and was fed by its mate. The tree swallow, like lightning, swooped to the cavity entrance and alighted. The chickadee retaliated and drove the swallow away, then entered the cavity. Though the tree swallow had not taken over the cavity, it was trying to usurp the nest site. For the rest of the morning the swallow kept returning to the nest tree. Wish I had been able to stay around to see how the drama ended. Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/60sec. @ f8
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