Charlie Fineran’s Photo of the Week is a young barn swallow sitting on a wire inside an old unused shed.  The old small shed, at one time was used for storing farm equipment and tools, it had long since been replaced by larger and more modern farm buildings. 

Now, just part of a bygone day of farming landscape, the shed has gently aged and quietly sets alongside the road.  That scenario had always been the image for me as I passed by day in and day out.  That image was shattered  recently as I went by!!

Returning home, driving slowly as always, just taking in the beauty and hoping to see some wildlife.  Pass by the old shed, notice four small birds in a row, perched in a small opening near the crown of the roof.  Quickly realize, I have never seen any birds in that opening before, birds of all kinds and sizes are always sitting atop the roof, but never in the small opening!!  Let me check this out!!  Backing up into position, I notice only one bird and it quickly takes off before I could get a photo, looked like some kind of swallow!!  Now, I have been watching swallows dart, dash and dive across the sky just above the fields for a long time, BUT, never really gave much thought about a photo, JUST TOO FAST!! AND THEY NEVER SEEM TO LAND ANYWHERE!!

At home, do a little research on swallows AND I am beginning to connect the dots!!  One of those dots – the old quiet little shed.  Parked by the shed, looked in the open window AND – ‘ITS CHAOS’!!  I am looking at probably fifty birds flying to and fro, all chattering, there were four small birds on a wire and they just sat there!!  (probably young just out the nest) I am now looking around and there are many nests up along the eaves of the building, classic swallow nests with some young chicks!!  My image of a quiet old abandoned shed is NO MORE!!  Barn Swallows, have come up with their own recycling plan for this shed – A DYNAMIC BARN SWALLOW COLONY inside this little shed!!

‘Busy as a BEE’, ‘Busy as a Beaver’, after my research, may I add ‘BUSY AS A BARN SWALLOW!!’

The Barn Swallow is our most familiar swallow and is the size of a sparrow.  It is the only swallow with a deeply forked tail.  A beautiful bird, upperparts dark steel-blue, underparts buff and throat and forehead rusty.  Its voice is a constant twittering and chattering.  Its habitat is agricultural land, surburban areas, marshes and lakeshores.

Nesting is four to six brown spotted eggs in a solid cup of mud reinforced with grass lined with feathers and soft plant material, and placed on a rafter in a building or sheltered ledge.  These birds breed from Alaska east across Canada to Newfoundland and south through all the United States except for southern Texas and peninsular Florida.  They winter in the tropics.

The great majority of these birds now nest in buildings, but originally they used rocky ledges over streams and perhaps attached their nests to tree trunks in the shelter of branches.  Barn Swallows perform long migrations, some that breed in North America winter as far south as Argentina!!  Like other swallows they migrate by day, often feeding as they travel.  They are swift and graceful fliers!!  It is estimated they may cover as many as 600 miles a day in quest of food for their young!!

Sure glad I didn’t waste my time waiting for one of them to land for a photo!!!  I believe your visit to my Flickr site watching these birds in action will a fitting ending to this story!!  I look forward to adding the Barn Swallow to ‘My Backyard Album’!!  Last but not least, I wonder how many insects they catch and eat in a day feeding their family!!!

Please visit my Flickr site for photos of a colony in Allamuchy. – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157699020593905

Photos of young being fed, Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157697795495274

Enjoy Your Open Space, Charlie Fineran