Linda’s For the Birds: The Season’s Swarming Swallows
Tree Swallow.
Photo courtesy of Sue Puder
I really hate to play favorites with birds, but if pressed as to what my favorite bird is I would put the tree swallow right at the top of my list. Unless you are near open areas with water, such as ponds, lakes, shorelines or swamps, you may have never seen a tree swallow (5-6 in.) or like me only seen them for a brief moment as they flew overhead.
In the mid-1990s, I began a job down the street from Richard W. DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. That is where I really learned to love this bird. Visiting the park every day for lunch I had the opportunity to watch them on a daily basis and learned to appreciate their simple but elegant beauty.
The upper parts of the swallow’s body are a dark iridescent blue with tinges of brown thrown in to keep our interest, along with a black beak and eyes. The blue feathers cut across the face a little below the eye, giving the impression the bird donned a cap. The lower parts, from its chin to the end of its under- tail covert feathers, are white. Unlike the Barn Swallow the tree swallow does not have a forked tail. Viewed in flight, the crisp white against the vibrant dark blue makes this bird fairly easy to identify.
The Meadowlands Commission has established a program where they install hundreds of swallow nesting boxes in early spring at DeKorte Park and other sites throughout the area, so there were always plenty of swallows to admire. I always knew spring was right around the corner when I began to see these marvelous birds swooping down over the water snatching bugs from the surface, or plucking them from midair as they careened down the many walking trails, barely missing me as they swerved at the last second.
Maybe it is their gregarious nature that really attracts me. During breeding months they would take a break from their activities and land on the railing within a few feet of me as I sunned myself out on the platform; we spent many a wonderful, peaceful moment together. Watching them take possession of their nest box was always a thrill, listening to that soft chittering as the male stood guard while the female checked out the accommodations. When breeding season really ramped up it was constant activity. Hunting and feeding was the mantra for the day and the park was turned into a whirlwind of activity.
In my last post, I spoke of the sense of loss that I feel as summer turns to autumn and the migration of the tree swallows only heightened this malaise. The babies raised, slowly there would be less and less swallows. My summer companions were leaving me to deal with the impending winter months without them. Thankfully, although they start migrating early, they do have a tendency to linger in large flocks throughout the state. Although they may not have been at the park any longer, I would get another chance to meet up with them in Cape May and oh what a spectacle awaited me there.
Swarm of Tree Swallows.
Photo courtesy of Sue Puder
Forming large flocks, and I mean large, thousands upon thousands of them fly in unison swooping and turning in one large undulating mass of tiny feathered bodies, alighting on bushes only to rest momentarily before lifting off for another round of the purest form of choreography you’ll ever witness. I was lucky enough one fall to witness a flock at close range over my head in Cape May. I was with a friend and we stood mesmerized as the flashes of white and blue churned in the sky just 15 to 20 feet above our heads and I was quite grateful that they left me as clean as they found me.
Recently an acquaintance mentioned that she had seen a flock at Stone Harbor this fall and that it was a life altering event for her. She was in awe of their synchronic flight. Why does this event stir up such deep feeling in humans? Maybe because we couldn’t accomplish such natural rhythm without a bull horn and months of preparation and yet these birds make it look effortless.
It is not too late to catch these swallows before they leave the state. Just last week in Cape May I was lucky enough to enjoy a small flock over Bunker Pond at Cape May Point State Park. Although most of the times I have seen the swallows swarming have been along our coastline, I ran into them on Long Beach Island in September. Roosts can be found in land near open water. Sometimes I like to leave these special moments to chance.
Years can go by between swallow events, but there is something special about offhandedly looking up to the sky and realizing it is filled with swallows. I have also found that although you may not see them with your naked eye, scanning the sky with binoculars can reveal large flocks you never knew were there. Close to sunset is a good time to look for them as they gather together to roost for the night.
I regret not having a video of this event, which actually prevented me from writing about it for some time. In desperation I turned to YouTube and amazingly found many videos of tree swallows swarming; I liked this one the best, but there are others to peruse. Thanks to Patrick Sylvest for taking the time to film this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvykZIMf-pQ&feature=related
Click here to read about the Meadowlands project.
Previous Exclusives:
- Linda's For the Birds: The Turning of the Seasons
- Linda's For the Birds: Cool Places: The Lighthouse Center
- Linda's For the Birds: The Pygmy Pines
- Linda's For the Birds: Our Industrious Wrens
- Linda's For the Birds: The Elusive Catbird
- Linda's For the Birds: Hummingbirds
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 10/17/2011 10:00 AM 
Categories: Linda's For the Birds
Tags: tree swallows DeKorte Park swallows new jersey cape may cape may point state park Stone Harbor
Categories: Linda's For the Birds
Tags: tree swallows DeKorte Park swallows new jersey cape may cape may point state park Stone Harbor
Comments