Barn Swallows Nesting

Regis noticed barn swallows nesting under a porch in the campground. While he did all the work to ready the trailer to leave, I took pictures of the barn swallows. I could not stay long because I realized that I was impacting their behavior but I was able to witness them feeding their young and displaying their aerial maneuverability.

Barn swallows are incredible fliers and spend much of the day catching insects on the wing. They can make sharp turns and quick dives that look almost effortless. They build their nests with mud which can contain hundreds to over a thousand tiny mud pellets, each carried individually in the bird’s bill. Male and female both feed the chicks, making hundreds of trips each day once the babies hatch. Adults often come back to the&nb sp;same nesting site year after year, sometimes even the same nest if it’s still intact. Their deeply forked tail streamers help with agility in flight. Barn swallows are among the world’s most widespread birds. North American birds spend the winter as far south as Central and South America before returning north each spring. Their diet includes insects and a single family consumes an astonishing number of insects over a nesting season. They have adapted to humans. Before barns existed, they nested on cliffs and caves. Today, porches, bridges, barns, and culverts have become favorite nesting sites.

While the swallows busied themselves with raising a family, Regis busied himself getting us ready to leave, and I busied myself photographing wildlife behavior. When I returned in time to realize Regis had just about finished, I was able to photograph this insect on the side of the trailer before putting the camera away temporarily.

We traveled 311 miles today which seemed particularly long for all of us. Every stop was hot and miserable with little shade. Movement caught my eye at a few stops where, at first glance, it looked like a patch of damp dirt. Then, the wings caught the light and I realized insects, butterflies, and skippers were gathered there to obtain the precious moisture in the soil. My favorite was this painted lady butterfly.

In the evenings, I have started to plan our return trip from Washington. If I ask Regis his opinion on places we should go on the way back, he has no opinion. But, he may nix any ideas I pose. For example, he does not want to retrace our steps on the way back. I asked if he wanted to go through California and he said no. Otherwise, he goes with the flow. He has always been like this. We have done 5 or 6 cross country trips in the US and Canada and I plan everything. After we pack up our campsite and get in the car to head to the next destination, he asks for the address/coordinates to plug into the GPS. That is when he knows where we are going for the day. I admire his ability to be so cool about it and not care. He and the dogs are my laid back companion travelers.