Rub a Dub Dub, Two Boys in a Tub and the Little Bird that Could

We love our Korean mother here at Sky Baragi pension. She bought Landon a pool and squirt gun at the beginning of the summer, only to have it be too cold to set up for weeks. Finally, she set it up on the "party deck" right outside our room. It is great because it's shaded, so I don't have to worry about sunscreen, but the water does not warm up very fast. So, Landon didn't really want to swim in it because it was too cold. Seeing this dilemma, she found a pink tub that is now the "warm up" tub. We haul water from the shower and put it in this tub. Landon swims in the pool until he gets too cold, then warms up in the tub. Since these photos were taken, she also got Owen his own pool, a tiny soft and inflatable one, that he loves to splash around in. When we are just hanging in Samgilpo for the day with no car, the pool is on our agenda every day!

Baby swallows in their nest

Korean mother cleaning the pool

Korean mother not only bought the pool, but cleans the bugs out of it every morning, and sets out the mat and small pools. If she can catch us when we're about to go out, she also hauls the hot water for the warm up pools, but I at least try to be sneaky and do that when she's busy. This lady is a saint and we love her to death. Not only does she take great care of us, she also cares for all other creatures- including a family of swallows who built a nest on the party deck. Before the eggs hatched, she put the board under the nest just in case a baby were to fall out. Now, while you enjoy pictures of the boys playing in the tub, I will recount the epic story of the brave baby swallow. 

So when the swallows were newly hatched, there was plenty of room in the nest. The swallow mom and dad were very busy catching bugs to feed to their four baby birds. I had never watched baby birds feed in person before, so it was really cool just to watch the babies poke their heads out and make their little noises when the mommy or daddy came back with food. Soon, the birds grew bigger and bigger, but could not fly at all. They were having trouble situating themselves in the nest, and the parents had abandoned the nest at night in order to sleep in another nest along the wall (with a board attached under it as well, because, Korean mom). 

Korean mom watched the birds very carefully. Although we can't communicate very well, we would always check up on them and count them. One day, when I went to check on them, there were only three in the nest, and one was standing on the party deck. He couldn't really fly, but I guess he flapped his wings enough to control his fall and not die. His flying feathers were just growing in, but I was concerned he was going to get stepped on, or starve because mommy and daddy bird wouldn't know where he was. We initiated operation: rescue baby bird. He was very fast at running away from us, but we caught him with a strainer and a tray, and carefully placed him back on the board underneath the nest, because there was not really room inside of the nest. Whew! We saved the day (or so we thought).

I went to check on the birds the next morning. Brave baby bird had flown out of the nest again, but just to the party deck. I decided to just let him hang there because I didn't want to risk him falling out again and not making it. I came back later that day to find a styrofoam container with tissues on the party deck table- Korean mother had made him a nest. Over the course of the next few days, we tried to have him stay inside the nest so mommy and daddy swallow knew where he was. I didn't see them continue to feed him, but I know they were aware of his location at all times. He was such an independent little bugger that he kept flying out of his nest, but he could only go a few feet before he fluttered to the ground!

LOVE THIS PICTURE!

One day, we went out to swim and found him in the pink tub (empty, thank goodness!) I wanted to get him safely into his nest so he did not drown in the water, so I put him in and he immediately flew back out. I chased him around the deck, and he fluttered down into the BBQ area, where there is a perfect baby-bird-size gap between the wooden deck and the tile below. I wanted to make sure he didn't go under the deck, because I did not think we could get him out. Well, I accidentally chased him RIGHT under the deck. I felt so guilty that I had just basically killed the bird! The parents were flying around like crazy and chirping and looking all over the place for their bird! That's when I knew that they had been watching and feeding their independent little guy. Our friend, and fellow road wife came to watch the kiddos play in the pool, and she suggested we try to get him out. I got a net and managed to net him and get him back in his stupid nest. He, of course, didn't stay there, but we tried to block the holes and hoped for the best. His parents were definitely happy to see him!

Not very long after, he flew away for good. Of course, Korean mother noticed a little while later that all the babies and the parents come back to sleep on the deck and on posts near her door. I hope they appreciate all of her care, and the mental anguish I had on their behalf! In the process, though, I learned about the different stages of development of baby birds, and that when they are fledglings (semi-flying) with their flight feathers growing in, the best thing to do is leave them alone, because the parents know where they are. I read that sometimes the parents move them to bushes and other places because the nest can get attacked by predators, and if their babies are split up and in hiding, they have a better chance for survival. Thank you, Audubon society website!