We were heading into a stiff south wind in early afternoon a few days back over at Battle Point Park. Elky and Tassel were off-leash, alternately poking into the margins of the islands of blackberry and wild roses that break up the meadows at the north end of the park. (Yes, we knew this is a technical violation, since all dogs are supposed to be leashed at all times, but we had the fields to ourselves and the joggers were a quarter-mile away at least. And besides, both dogs are so conscientious about coming when called that we don’t worry about bothering the innocent civilians.)
When we came out of the brush into the open meadow we found ourselves surrounded by a dozen or so of the barn swallows. They were feeding on insects we flushed from the tall grass, and as they came upwind the birds would glide slowly by, giving us a good look at them before flashing across and racing downwind to start the circle again. The picture shown here is one I grabbed off the web, and it doesn’t show the buff underbelly or the flash of white you see when the bird flares its tail when suddenly changing direction. They encircled us all the way across the 90-acre park, and I stopped every few yards or so just to marvel at how close they came.
When we came out of the brush into the open meadow we found ourselves surrounded by a dozen or so of the barn swallows. They were feeding on insects we flushed from the tall grass, and as they came upwind the birds would glide slowly by, giving us a good look at them before flashing across and racing downwind to start the circle again. The picture shown here is one I grabbed off the web, and it doesn’t show the buff underbelly or the flash of white you see when the bird flares its tail when suddenly changing direction. They encircled us all the way across the 90-acre park, and I stopped every few yards or so just to marvel at how close they came.
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