I have an older lady friend who has been watching a family of violet greens grow
up. A couple weeks ago she noticed the nest was empty and a very young swollow
was near by. Her question to me and mine to whoever is: 1) Do the young birds
ever return to their nest, 2) If not, how long do they stay in the area before
they strike out on their own?

With respect to the martins, there is a yacht club near my home and, based on
several comments in the past few weeks, there looks to be great areas to put up
houses to encourage them near the club. I am reluctant to suggest such activity
around the boaters as many of them have a real problem with swollows purching in
the rafters of the boat houses. They tend to leave little deposits on the
boats. Would martins tend to do likewise?

Thanks for any help.

Doug Hudson
Bremerton, WA
dhudson at silverlink.net