Friday, March 27, 2009

This Just In: Tree Swallow

Friday, March 27, 2009
10 comments
This morning when I took Phoebe out to the bus, dawn was barely breaking and there was a heavy dew on the ground. By the time I took out Liam to his bus, just after 8 am, the dew was still there, and it was joined by a heavy, filmy mist, which obscured the sun. As we walked to the garage, the silhouette of a bird sitting on the power line caught my eye.

"Is that a tree swallow?" I asked myself. Liam overheard me and said "Walll, you know what preddy-mush all the birds are Daddy, so, yep, it prolly is!" He was right! It WAS a tree swallow.

Now THAT'S a good sign of spring's arrival.

Bus duties completed, I tossed a handful of dried eggshell bits up onto the dark-shingles of the garage roof. The tree and barn swallows eat these eggshell bits all spring and summer. I know it's early, but it felt good to start yet another spring ritual: The Feeding of the Eggshells.

Also in full song this morning: eastern meadowlarks, eastern bluebirds, house finches, a red-shouldered hawk, and all the usual suspects (cardinals, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers, song sparrow, wild turkey) joined by some het-up dark-eyed juncos who are getting a head start on their spring concertos.

10 comments:

On March 27, 2009 at 9:37 AM OpposableChums said...

Eggshells on the roof: brilliant.

On March 27, 2009 at 12:03 PM Julie Zickefoose said...

You have caught our Liam's voice exactly. So sweet! Now, please tell us about your Adventure with Zick Dough.

On March 27, 2009 at 1:43 PM Bill of the Birds said...

Oh thanks for outing me on THAT, Zicketattle.

On March 27, 2009 at 4:57 PM Julie Zickefoose said...

I'm just lookin' at this stuff.

On March 27, 2009 at 5:18 PM Anna said...

What a nice capture of the tree swallow. The are so nice, and I always enjoyed their flying patterns. Anna :)

On March 27, 2009 at 6:59 PM Kenton and Rebecca said...

We just discovered your blog -- what a beautiful picture, and we learned what to do with our eggshells! Thanks for teaching us something new to enhance our relationship with birds =)

On March 27, 2009 at 11:14 PM Peg said...

Great idea, using the roof shingles!
Thnx for the hint.

On March 28, 2009 at 5:04 AM Bird Advocate said...

Meadowlarks! How I miss them, and I can't recall when I saw the last one. I may have to get off my duff and go looking!

On March 29, 2009 at 9:14 PM RuthieJ said...

That's cool Bill! I love seeing and hearing the tree swallows, but I hope ours wait at least a week till it warms up a little more here in Minnesota.

On March 30, 2009 at 8:43 AM Tutta la Storia said...

Aren't our wee ones precious? Great story to start the morning! I hadn't heard of doing that with eggshells. Drat! I already had my scrambled eggs this morning!


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