Swallows | wordsfromanneli

I have loved birds even when I was a small child. My mother used to tell me that the birds were talking to me. If I listened, I could hear what they were saying. Let’s just say that the power of suggestion worked overtime on me. I imagine the birds talking to me (and to each other) even now in my old(er) age.

Most birds bring us joy with their songs and their antics.

Some bring us a rude awakening when we walk under rows of them perched on overhead wires.

I had to wash my jacket after walking home under these birds.

But the owner of this car had a bigger washing job to do the next morning. He won’t park under the wires again.

Still, without birds, the world would be quiet, and not as happy as it could be.

Enjoy your day, and remember to listen to what the birds are saying. They may be talking to you.

Today they are saying:

B is for birds.

This is the time of year when the swallows come back to Capistrano. The Mission San Juan Capistrano has been a destination for a migration of cliff swallows since the early 1800s.

These swallows winter in Argentina and then migrate north about 6000 miles to California or even farther, but the Mission San Juan Capistrano being the tallest building around that area in those early days, was a destination for the swallows who were looking for a place to make their mud nests.

When I was in Mexico in February of 2007, I saw these swallows sitting on the overhead wires. I’m not sure if they are the cliff swallows that were enroute to California (the timing would have been right) or if they are barn swallows. They look very similar, and of course it was dark when I took these pictures.

The sidewalk below, was a dangerous place to walk, as I found out when I reached my rented bungalow and took off my blue velour jacket which was now covered with whitish splats. I seem to remember having to wash my hair too.

But look at these guys! They’re all facing the same way, except one or two. There is always one who travels to a different drum (second wire down). I see another one on the bottom wire. Just above him is a little guy who was trying to tell him to turn around, and nearly lost his balance himself.