Flight Cadet

The first batch of Barn Swallow babies are now ready for aviation lessons.  We have three families living in the big barn, and the parents line their little ones up on the phone line that stretches down to the barn from the house.  Then Mom and Dad chitter and nag at the babies to trust their wings and launch themselves into the air from their slender perch.  This is quite a noisy process, as many of the young ones are reluctant to leave the safety of the wire. This young one has been sitting all alone for the last fifteen minutes or so.  He looks a bit confused, and probably wonders where everyone else has gone!