Saturday, September 25, 2010

Saturday encore ~ The swallows have left the building

Last year at this time, I awoke one morning to discover all the swallows had gone. I wrote about it in the post below. This year, I was determined to be prepared for, and to watch, the exodus. Gradually over the past three weeks, the number of swallows living around the house has dwindled, and by Monday, they had all flown away. We miss them.


The swallows arrived last April with a flourish. I couldn't help but notice their songs and aerobatics the moment they swooped in to reclaim their nests from the previous year. All summer they kept us company, singing us awake in the mornings, amusing us as they raised their families, and gobbling up every little bug they could get their beaks on.

It dawned on me yesterday morning that they were gone. Poof. Just like that. The little group that always perched on the satellite dishes and watched me do morning chores wasn't there. All their nests were empty.


When did they leave? How did I miss it? Couldn't they at least have left a note? Maybe they're planning to send a postcard from the tropics, or wherever it is they go. I'll miss the little buggers.

7 comments:

  1. How neat that they come back to you each year and reclaim their nests. The singing you awake in the mornings must have been quite special ... whatta neat way to wake up!

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  2. sighhhhh, see you's guys in april. I get weepy when I see the Canadian geese flying in the V formation heading south. I wish I could join them as I hate the cold weather.....
    signed
    Theresa in Alberta

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  3. Gosh...I guess that means fall really is here. It's nice to know that they'll be back in the spring!

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  4. The swallows (or maybe they're martins) around here have been putting on impressively acrobatic training flights for the past few weeks. I'll have to take notice and see if they, too, have (ahem) flown the coop.

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  5. Smooch and the boys will just have to work harder to entertain you while the Swallow band is on hiatus!!!

    Nancy in Iowa

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  6. Isn't it funny how that happens? One day they're here, the next day they're gone. The silence is almost overwhelming.

    Good-bye Summer.

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  7. Our swallows leave in drips and drabs but there were a few groups of a dozen or so moving more purposefully south...and a little blue tit (chickadee) holding up the rear! I think he's being a bit optimistic, but you never know he might get as far as Dover! haha

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