Very cool experience! But, Barn Swallows aren’t always that great at what they do. Long ago in a place not-so-far-away, when I was in charge of the Cornell bird and mammal collections, I used to have regular contributors who brought in salvaged birds. One person brought in a surprising number of Barn Swallows. She related that she had on old, fat, 3-legged cat that specialized in killing them. It would lie down in the door of her barn, and when the swallows would swoop down and dive-bomb, mobbing, it would leap up and grab them.
My take-away: don’t ever turn your back on oldsters! We’ve still got some tricks left. Kevin From: bounce-124746704-3493...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-124746704-3493...@list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of sarah fern Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2020 8:15 PM To: Peter Saracino <petersarac...@gmail.com> Cc: AB Clark <anneb.cl...@gmail.com>; CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Re: [cayugabirds-l] Re: [cayugabirds-l] Don’t underestimate swallows. I had a wonderful experience while sleeping in a field near a friend's house about 30 yrs ago. Before dawn, I drowsily awoke to the strange feeling that something was dive-bombing at my face & veering off at the last second. I was in my mummy bag with only a bit of my face exposed. As the light slowly increased, I could hear & then see mosquitoes, one at a time, come buzzing at my face and then be neatly caught by a dive-bombing barn swallow. It was scary because the birds came fast right up to my face & veered off with a very narrow miss. I could feel & hear the swish of their feathers as they turned in the air. They never missed a mosquito & I was in awe. Sarah Fern On Wed, Jul 1, 2020 at 7:30 PM Peter Saracino <petersarac...@gmail.com<mailto:petersarac...@gmail.com>> wrote: Anne I've had barn swallows nesting in a small shed on my property come way up to the house and dive bomb my cat - and the cat was far from the nest and no apparent threat! I love it when I'm out to mow and they go about wake hunting as they catch the insects my mowing stirs up. It is a sad day indeed in late August when I am mowing and the swallows are no more. What a gift the natural world..... Pete Sar [Image removed by sender.]<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> Virus-free. www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> On Wed, Jul 1, 2020 at 7:26 PM <anneb.cl...@gmail.com<mailto:anneb.cl...@gmail.com>> wrote: A red-tailed hawk just sailed over my house very low surrounded on all sides by shrieking and Tees-zweeting swallows, both tree and barn and perhaps 20 total. Looked like some slower flying, shorter tailed juv barn swallows in the mix. They were really really committed to seeing the hawk off. How would a redtail ever grab a swallow? They clearly thought it possible. Anne Sent from my iPhone -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
