Last week, we had temperatures hovering between just below freezing to the upper thirties. Cloudy, and some light rain, it was uncomfortable outside, but much better than around 100 miles to the north, where there was freezing precipitation. As I was watching the pond, I was amazed at the number of small birds flying just above the water and almost hovering over a shallow section. It appeared they were feeding; much like the purple martins in the summer.
There were hundreds of the small birds, which made me go for my binoculars to observe them closer. That's when I spotted their color. Their backs were blue, their chests were white and they had a black mask at their eyes. I had never seen the birds before. A little research on the web led to discovering what they were: tree swallows.
I found this picture on the internet on the iNaturalist page. Whoever took the photo caught the colors, which in the gray of winter days is brilliant against the dark backgrounds.
The birds stayed for a few days in numbers, and a few are still hanging around. According to what I read, the species winters along the Gulf Coast, and the flocks can be large. The one I observed was, and brightened a day of miserable weather. I don't know what they were feeding on, but they spent hours over the same spot. Either they consumed all there was to consume, or they left for another spot to feed.
No comments:
Post a Comment