Breaking News: The Swallows are Back!
March 31, 2024
This is the kind of “breaking news” I’d like to see populating my email so I hope you all appreciate it as well! It’s true! The swallows arrived today. Dozens of purple martins, tree swallows, and a few barn swallows too. The bug-eaters are back in town, which probably means the bugs are back too. As the song goes, “you can’t have one without the other.”
As soon as I got out of my car in the marina parking lot, I heard them. “Do Do, doo doo doo doo doo, click click click” goes their trill. My face lit up with a smile. The closer I got to the dock the more martins I heard. As I approached, they all swooped up in the air and began their acrobatic, air-borne dance. Swooping, swirling, diving and swooping again, occasionally stopping to dance with one another.
Already the martins are busy evicting the house sparrows from the purple martin houses (clearly their territory) and squabbling over the best real estate. The purple martins form the backdrop of sound I think of as summer at the lake. Just hearing them today had me feeling unreasonably joyful.
But wait, there’s more!
As I looked out over the lake, I saw a swirl of small birds coming my way. I knew right away - or at least I hoped I knew - but still I waited with anticipation until they were close enough for me to confirm - tree swallows! Tree swallows are the elite fighter pilots of the bird world, catching bugs on the wing or swooping them off the water. Engaging in aerial battles with each other that I’m convinced are just for fun. Tree swallows are just as fun for the photographer! I found myself spinning around and giggling as they swooped by my head and out over the water. So begins the season of taking a thousand pictures to get one in focus!
But wait, there’s STILL more!
That’s right, the first of the barn swallows have arrived and immediately began scouting out nesting locations. If purple martins are the singers, and tree swallows are the fighter pilots, then barn swallows are the ballerinas. They are grace in motion as they swoop over the water and spread that beautiful tail. Being surrounded by swallows this morning was like drinking from a cup full of joy nectar. My body has been aching the last few days but I noticed this morning all the aches disappeared for a while. This is what joy can do.
Not to be left out of the bug-eating frenzy, the eastern phoebes are also setting up shop and building their nests in the eaves of the dock. Quieter and smaller, they seem to favor the darkest shadows for their nests. I can see them, but I can only photograph them when they pause for a moment between catching bugs and bringing nesting material.
There are still lots of migrating ducks and I hope the loons will continue to stop by for a few weeks. I’m on the lookout for shorebirds too, but so far only the killdeer have arrived. Thankfully for the photographer, the best spot to have a chance at a loon encounter is also the best place to spot swallows and martins!
One morning I was watching loon when he caught a fish - and then quickly scooted way out to the buoy line. I was surprised, I didn’t think I had moved enough to spook him. I hadn’t. I few seconds later I saw this:
Otters are big and powerful and I’m pretty sure they would happily take a fish from a loon. The marina folks don’t like the otters because they are destructive, but I always feel a sense of awe when I see them. Awe at their power - and also awe at how quickly they can disappear! I saw him, he saw me, and then I didn’t see him again. I have no idea where he finally came back up.
One great thing about being in-between winter and summer is occasionally still seeing a winter bird who hadn’t yet made an appearance. This week I finally saw a golden-crowned kinglet!
Yesterday I had an unusual encounter. I was standing on the trail, a little way from where it exits the tree canopy when I suddenly saw this big, beautiful, white dog coming towards me. For just a moment it seemed like something out of a movie. A magical dog, coming to open my heart and take me on an adventure! A fellow trail walker who had a smaller dog of her own got very nervous since this dog did not have a human nearby.
This dog was big and powerful but just the sweetest dog I could ever encounter. I walked towards her gently. She walked right up and held up her nose and let me scratch her ears. I held on to her leash while my trail friend nervously walked around and kept on going, but she had nothing to fear. This dog was way more powerful than I, if she had been interested in making trouble I couldn’t have stopped her.
I searched for tags but didn’t find any so I called the park rangers. While waiting for a park ranger and animal control to arrive, she and I walked down to the parking lot and then another quarter-mile to the other end. She was very content to go at my pace. When I stopped to put my camera in the car, she would have hopped in - but I don’t think she would have fit in the front seat! Happily, she was chipped and her humans were easily located. She was recently adopted and had escaped from her new humans. She looks to have some husky in her and I’ve always been told they are escape artists! So perhaps she was just looking for a little magical adventure after all?
Wishing you all some magical moments in your week! Thank you all for being here and supporting this joyful work I get to do. It doesn’t seem right to call it work!
And just because it’s fun and I’m in a joyful mood, and especially for anyone named Karen, the wonderful Karen Drucker sent me a link to this song today. Enjoy!
😂 Best use of voiceover audio EVER.
The swallows are back, which means they get a season-long photography session.