Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Swallows, Beautiful Swallows, Doing Their Thing~



Those who know me, know I ADORE SWALLOWS~
To observe them in action as they cross water and fields, grabbing up insects in mid air...amazing! 
Their aerobatics in flight also stunning!
Their looks beautiful!
Add to that the information I obtained when I "Googled" them was this:
Tree Swallows will consume 2000 insects per day, and feed their young 6000 insects over a 45 day nesting period. Insects make up 99.8 percent of the swallow's diet. A single Barn Swallow can consume 60 insects per hour, which means upward of 850 insects per day.
OK, I for one do not have hatred toward much of anything, for if one hates, they wish that thing which they hate gone, possibly even dead.
I HATE Mosquitoes because they love me.
From June unto the first freeze every year, they will do all that they can to torment me.
I can spray myself with the best of products, or homemade remedies and those pesky insects, can always find a sliver of skin to bite me and I do not like that at all!
Today, I am sharing a selection of images taken in the past 2 weeks of my encounters with many of the Barn and Tree Swallows that thrive near us, yet to my dismay, not near enough for me to be able to observe them on a daily basis~


I am linking up with Stewart at:


Wild Bird Wednesday

(http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/) 
 
 
 
 
 














 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

24 comments:

  1. HI Mary, these are beautiful captures of the swallows. I haven't seen any arrive here yet but I enjoy seeing them swooping through the air over the fields and water. Enjoy the day.

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  2. Mary, your flight shots are fantastic. I have tried again and again but have either got blue sky or a blur here and there. We have a flock of welcome swallows on the farm and they very kindly 'graze' over the water as the mosquito nymphs rise.
    Not only beautiful but also very useful little birds.

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  3. the tree swallows are so cute! i've only seen barn swallows here. i love to hear them call and see them swoop.

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  4. Not only are they handsome birds, but they're fun to watch! They can be hard to photograph sometimes, but you got some great shots! Flight shots, too!

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  5. Great group of shots! These guys are so hard to catch. I don't see them very often here.

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  6. They are fun to watch! We don't have many around here though.

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  7. Great photos, lovely to see!
    Well done!

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  8. Nicely captured, Mary!
    I've seen some here last weekend too and I tried to take some photo of them in flight! They are very fast!
    /Pia

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  9. I was out looking for Swallows, I saw so many flying, so good at it, they didn't stop. Lovely for you Mary.

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  10. Thank you fo those statistics Mary, numbers which remind us how many of those pesky insects Swallows and other insect eating birds consume. Boy if it wasn't for our feathered friends we would all be neck height in insects by now. Worse we would probably all have been bitten to death. Haven't seen too many Swallows yet because it is still cool, but they will be here in some numbers very soon. Thanks for your lovely pictures again.

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  11. A great series of photos. Such beautiful little birds to watch.

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  12. Mary, wonderful series and post on the Swallows! I love to watch them fly.

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  13. Superb Mary, great series of a wonderful subject... your attention to detail really is second to none

    Fantastic post

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  14. Fabulous Mary! I love swallows for all the same reasons...for their beauty and the completely practical and selfish reason that mosquitoes love me too.

    Your collages are wonderful character studies !

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  15. They really are cute birdies. Lovely selection of photos and collages!

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  16. Lovely shots Mary!
    Think you could send a swallow this way to help with mosquitoes. :)

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  17. Beautiful series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  18. I haven´t seen swallows yet. Nice to see yours. :)

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  19. i dont seem to be able to get a good photo of swallows in flight but you seem to have mastered it well.

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  20. Mary, how ever did you manage to capture so many wonderful images of swallows in flight? I have tried many times but my images turn out to be rather blurry. I learned a little something new today about swallows after reading this terrific post. It was a joy to scroll through your beautiful photographs!

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  21. I'm a big fan of swallows. Neat photos. So far only barn and tree swallows have returned to Ontario, but I imagine other varieties will be here soon.

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  22. Great set of pictures of a bird I find to even get in the frame!

    The swallows we have in Melbourne are a different species to yours - Welcome Swallows.

    I agree with you on the mosquito front!

    Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW.

    Stewart M - Melbourne

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  23. Good morning, dear Mary,

    It has been a while since I've visited my favorite bloggers, and as per usual, coming here is always filled with everything wonderful! Lovely photos, warm and colorful.

    Spring is finally here throughout the states, and needless to say we have been busy in the garden_ weeding, planting, harvesting and watching everything grow.

    We hope you have a wonderful weekend my friend.

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  24. Wow, fantastische Bilder...

    Grüsse aus der Schweiz

    Hans-Peter

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