Packed shoulder to shoulder in their nest, like sports spectators in a balcony, 5 baby barn swallows hollering: Feed me! Feed me!

This third batch is fortunate with a community of parents--several adult birds--reliably available, very attentive to their needs and very protective. These babies are fluffy, cheeky in the way only a well-nurtured baby can get.

The middle batch this year was not so lucky, with novice ‘teen’ parents. Like last year’s second crew, no survivors.

What is amazing is how lightweight a bird in the hand is. Even an adult barn swallow, almost 7 inches long and 15 inch wingspan, weighs only 2/3 of an ounce. Less than a letter!

So the food the babies are inhaling is not turning into weight so much as enthusiasm. Not mass but energy that enables flight--