Decorated

Contributed photograph
    United States Air Force (retired) Donald Olson formally of Oakfield and his wife Charlotte (Beals) formally of Monticello sent the photograph to friends in Oakfield showing them how tree swallows decorate their nests in Colorado Springs. The Olsons had watched the swallows carry the white feathers, which they feel the birds had gotten from the ranch across the highway where there were hens, through the small hole. They thought the birds were making a bed with them. When Charlotte opened the door to the bird houses to clean them, she found these formed nests with white feathers standing around the edges. Look closely and there is a small egg nestled within the nest. The Olsons sprayed the nests with a clear laquer to reinforce them. Charlotte wrote, “This was our evening entertainment — building of the nests to the babies leaving the nest.”