Water-skipping Swallows

Recently, one early evening, I went outside to discover dozens of swallows—tree and barn—enjoying a rollicking good time water-skipping over my pond. Water-skipping is my term but I think it aptly describes their activity—swooping down to drag their feet, sometimes their stomachs, over the water. Like planes circling the airport, these swallows circled in the sky above my pond, each waiting his or her turn to approach.

You can identify Barn Swallows by their long forked tails. However, the “fork” in the tail of the Tree Swallow (see my June 2 posting) is much more shallow, looking more like a notch.

On seeing the fun, I ran inside to get my hand-held video, which is wonderfully convenient but has no real zoom capacity. Coming outside again, I hurried toward the pond, quietly as possible, to film the action. The swallows, however, took exception to my presence—after all, uninvited, I was a party crasher.

Though it’s difficult to see the swallows in this video (you might need to view it a few times; trace their movement by focusing on the splash sites), you’ll certainly hear their loud twitters of protest at my presence.

By the way, while writing this, I just ducked outside momentarily and guess what? The party is on once again! The swallows are back and it’s time for water-skipping over my pond.

Till next time . . . happy birding!

Georgia Anne