The new boys have been in quarantine for quite a while now, but they’ll be allowed into the larger turnout area later this week! They still won’t be allowed to mix with the girls for another month. Marcello and Merlin had their *ahem*…operations on Tuesday. All went well, the drugs they’re given are “dissociative”, which means they don’t remember what happened. But they know it was bad.

Bravado, as the only castrated male, is the only one of the new boys who cares about things other than girls...like the new baby just on the other side of the fence.

Bravado, cute stuff that he is, was already castrated, so it’s especially exciting for him to join the herd. He already cares about things other than the ladies, and really wants to meet the new baby.

One of the first things she did in turn out was crash headlong into a fence at full speed. She was fine, but I can picture the look on her face.

Mikayla and Marsy (sorry Mom, I tried to call her Marseille for a while) are doing well. Tripoli got his first shots yesterday. All five of the baby barn swallows are *loudly* healthy.

Goodness! They are getting too big for that nest.

And flying lessons for the kingbirds are going well. They still come into the barn and hang out at the nest at night, though.

Mamma (or Dadda) kingbird shows two babies how it's done. They feed by perching on fences (trees, in the wild) and darting out to catch flies and other insects.

I totally understand the mentality of boomerang baby birds. When the nest is this awesome, leaving is really hard!