Intruder Alert
An adult Barn Swallow perched on a branch overlooking a nearly dried lotus pond.
I took a quick stroll along an area of the Sac & Fox trail in Cedar Rapids the other night. The area I was walking along has been preserved as a wetland to enable wetland and marsh critters of the midwest to thrive through the food chain. As I was walking to see if I could locate any interesting water fowl, I spotted this Barn Swallow. Frankly, I have never seen a barn swallow perched on a branch. I usually only see them flaunting their aerial acrobatic maneuvers swallowing up all the flying insects available. So, seeing this one being content watching me I found a little odd.
He was not catching bugs sitting there with his mouth open. He was about to show me who he thought was boss.
I made my way about 25 yards to a pier that had been built into a lotus pond when I am seemingly nose to beak with the barn swallow. He is angry at me and making sure I know it. He took at least 6 passes at me before I realized I was bigger than it was and that I needed to show him that I was the one at the top of the chain. As he took aim at me and proceeded ready for another pass, I swung my free arm (the one without the camera), then noticed he was suddenly not alone. I had them coming at me from multiple directions. It was not more than 15 seconds when I realized I was not taking pictures – good ones, anyway – of anything. So I started to make my way back to the path. Once clear of the pier, it was then that I realized what all the fuss was about.
Let me introduce you to Junior Swallow. Cute, huh?
Yeah, you’re cute. But tell your folks to back off, will ya?
Great captures, they are such a cute little bird!
Thanks for the comments and for stopping by!