Barn Swallows inhabit the outbuildings of the local nursery, tiny mud nests crammed up against cross beams and corners. These are beautiful birds, with dark red throats and deep blue backsides, the colors remarkably uniform and flat. Their split tails are particularly striking in flight. Did the employees at the nursery think I was up to something, wandering around their property, staring stupidly up into corners and crevices?
Returning to the nursery yesterday, I find the swallows are gone, the nests dismantled. I ask a young employee if there are any still around and with a straight face she tells me she will have to check the inventory. Never mind.
Today, a rare sighting of a Spotted Sandpiper in the estuary, doing his unique bob and weave through the grasses. Strange little guy.
This is the land of birds in May and June. Mating, laying eggs, raising chicks, protecting their young, eating each others young, everything under the sun.
Dinosaurs rule the earth!