Above the intercom, everything has gone quiet.

The lively calls begging for food, the flutter of wings—we don’t hear any of it anymore.

The swallow story that unfolded on Fortune Inn’s eaves reached a turning point on July 5, 2026.

From the “close to fledging” stage we told you about last time, the chicks moved into the next phase in no time at all.

During the day, we started seeing the chicks take off again and again, led by a parent bird.

At first it was clumsy, even precarious to watch, but it was still a proper “first flight.”

What’s interesting is that once practice ended for the evening, they’d come right back to this nest.

Look up above the intercom before dusk, and there they’d be, huddled tightly together.

It was as if they’d decided for themselves, “That’s enough for today”—watching them, we felt reassured too.

One Chick Fell From the Nest Along the Way

During this practice period, one of the chicks fell from the nest.

This is the stage when their wingbeats are gaining strength, and things like this can happen.

It left us feeling very sad, but it reminded us that this, too, is part of how life grows up.

The chicks that had returned every night finally didn’t come back to the nest on July 5.

They’d flown during the day just as they had the days before, so at first we thought, “Just more practice, probably.”

But as evening fell, and then the next day came, the nest stayed empty.

The eaves that had once been so lively went quiet, almost disappointingly so.

There’s a certain loneliness to it, but this is simply the natural course of a swallow’s upbringing.

Once they can fly reasonably well, they gradually drift from the nest through repeated practice, and then live independently from there.

While we lost one chick along the way, the remaining two grew strong right to the end and fledged safely.

From egg to this point took about a month and a half.

Watching a tiny life, once no bigger than the tip of a little finger, launch itself into the sky under its own power—that’s an experience that made us truly grateful to be running this inn.

The spring story that began with “A Swallow Has Come” reaches its conclusion here.

If you’d like to look back on it, please take a look at our earlier articles too.

Related article : A little spring visitor that brings good luck has arrived at Fortune Inn

Related article : A Growth Diary of Our Swallow Chicks

Related article : Already Wearing a Proper Swallow’s Face | The Chicks at Fortune Inn Are Getting Close to Fledging

Swallows are said to have a homing instinct that brings them back to the very same nest year after year.

These eaves, too, might be chosen again by someone next year.

We hope the two young swallows are doing well wherever they are now, and that they’ll come back to Fortune Inn again next year.

When that day comes, we’ll be sure to report back—together with our lucky carp, of course.