Today, you can see the first video in our series on the Tree Swallows of Lake Los Carneros. Tree swallows were locally extinct when the Santa Barbara Audubon Society put up their bird boxes. Now they are back, and we get to watch them grow! Check it out.

Keep reading for a full summary of the day’s events.The Tree Swallows are doing well this year, nesting repeatedly. On June 16th I found 16 eggs! Eight were definitely tree swallows, four may have been and four I believe are Violet Green Swallow Eggs. We also found four chicks in the brush stage of development. We’ll keep visiting about once a week to keep track of how these guys are doing.

Also I saw many other birds here is a complete list of species (with Shape and Size for Birdeez Identification):

• Mallards (Duck-like, Large)
• Caspian Terns (Gull-like, Large)
• Cliff Swallows (Swallow, Small)
• Tree Swallow (Swallow, Small)
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Swallow, Small)
• Turkey Vultures (Hawk-like, Large)
• American Kestrels and Fledglings! (Hawk-like, Medium)
• White-tailed Kites (Hawk-like, Large)
• Red-tailed Hawks (Hawk-like, Large)
• Anna’s Hummingbird (Hummingbird, Extra Small)
• American Crow (Perching, Large)
• Rock Pigeon (Pigeon, Medium)
• House Finch (Perching, Small)
• Great-tailed Grackle (Perching, Medium)
• Western Scrub-Jay (Perching, Medium)
• Acorn Woodpecker (Tree-Clinging, Medium)
• Red-shouldered Hawk (Hawk-like, Large)
• American Goldfinch (Perching, Small)

I’m sure I missed a few while peering into bird boxes, but I think that is not a bad day of birding!

I hope to have more videos posted soon, so be sure to follow out BirdeezTube Channel on YouTube and check back on the blog soon!

Here are the birds by name, species and handler!

1. Kanati, a Male American Kestrel. Handler Chris.
2. Athena, a Barn Owl. Oops! I forgot her handlers name! Sorry.
3. Ivan, a Red-tailed Hawk. Handler David.
4. Kisa, a Peregrine Falcon. Handler Carolyn.

We’ve got a project in the works with Eyes in the Sky. More info on that to come.