Monday, July 18, 2011

Barn Swallow At Berry Lake

What you are looking at is a barn swallow. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it is. These birds like to make their nests in the covered bridge that's not too far from where I took these pictures. I showed those nests to you a while back.

These birds usually zip around in the air so fast that there's no way I could ever get any pictures, but I was in luck this time and got these. This bird decided to walk around on the ground for awhile in a similar way as do American robins. It was not the only one.

This park seems to be full of these barn swallows for some reason. There is a large population of them near the bridge, but they can be found just about everywhere. There are also red-winged blackbirds around here, and house sparrows. This is along with all of the water birds that just love it at this place that is a huge shallow lake.

I've seen barn swallows before, but it wasn't too long ago that I had no idea what they were. I've also seen tree swallows, which look similar, but the lighter colors are usually white. Identifying birds isn't easy until you begin to get used to doing it. I've had to learn much of what I know in the past several years of writing this blog.

This last picture is very similar to the first, except now the bird's mouth is closed. I was able to almost walk right up to this bird. The birds at this place called Berry Lake seem more at ease around humans than any other place I've been to. Swallows are known for their aggressiveness. I'm glad these haven't been.

A couple of things before I go. Over at Rat Tales my newest episode of my "A Haunted Soul" series is out today. This series has been my most successful yet by far. My Rat Tales fiction blog seems to be finally off and running!

And at Nature Center Magazine, speaking of aggressive or angry birds, we have a video up today of a red-winged blackbird that keeps attacking people. This is a good one. It actually shows the bird crashing into these people's heads. The contents of this video all happened very recently right here in my state of Michigan.

See ya!


Nature Center Magazine - Your starting place for nature!

22 comments:

  1. The barn swallows look similar in size and shape to those staying at my house, expect yours look more colorful.

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  2. I never see our barn swallows on the ground..great captures!

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  3. These are colorful birds, Ratty! I'm glad you finally got some great pictures of them. I'm going to look up Berry Lake, who knows maybe I will run in to you some time.

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  4. Lovely find, they are colony birds sometimes when there is the right area-water and structure. I recently came across one bridge to look at a access on a river and they all came out from underneath.

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  5. Really great pictures of the barn swallow, standing still.
    It's a challenge for me to distinguish the swallows in the air as they are zooming by, or distinguish between a swallow and a swift sometimes.

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  6. When we first moved here, we had barn swallows in the lean-to on the back of the barn. They left after a couple of years, and now we have a different breed of swallows around here, but they don't nest in the barn.

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  7. I have never seen a swallow on the ground. Very unusual. Hope it is OK.

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  8. @Rainfield
    This bird is one of the most colorful barn swallows I've seen too.
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    @Samantha
    This is the first time I've ever seen them on the ground too.
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    @Icy BC
    You'd like several of the places I visit. They're not real big, but they're big enough for a good adventure. I'll try to name more of them from now on.
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    @Out on the prairie
    They've been doing that here too. Very interesting birds until they get angry.
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    @Ferd
    That makes me curious to know what a swift looks like. I think I'll look them up.
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    @Secondary Roads
    That would be interesting to be able to see them like that. I only get these brief looks while on my hikes.

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  9. @Don't unplug your hub
    They were all wandering around on the grund that day for some odd reason. This one soon flew off and was as good as ever.

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  10. You got some good pictures of them! We have swallows here too, but not that variety. They are great birds! Several pairs have nests in our yard and they seem to like playing in the sprinklers.

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  11. These are lovely pictures Ratty...we have swallows in the UK but they aren't as colourful as this and unfortunately aren't as abundant as they used to be...I think I have only ever seen our swallows in flight.

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  12. I always enjoy your bird photos, Ratty! I will have to go over to Nature Center and check out the video you mentioned - and be glad I wasn't around that bird! I bet it would like cats even less than humans.

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  13. I love Your photos...the colors of this bird are very interesting for me...I have not seen before so like one.

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  14. i love barn swallows- those are great pix. they don't hold still very often.

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  15. WOW! Those ARE good photos! I don't think I have ever seen one standing still.

    Hey, Ratty, I was thinking of you yesterday. I went for a walk at a nearby nature preserve and saw 2 swans and 7 signets. Oh, they were lovely!!! Of course, I didn't have my camera. :(

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  16. @Montucky
    Swallows always do seem to be animated birds. I'd love to see them playing in a sprinkler.
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    @Allotments4you
    This one seems to be particularly colorful. They seem to be abundant around here wherever there is water.
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    @Sparkle
    These swallows are aggressive attack birds too. One of a similar variety came after me one time.
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    @Amin
    Most of these barn swallows have milder colors than this one, but they all have some orange.
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    @Sharkbytes
    I was surprised when I found some of these birds wandering around on the ground. They're usually zooming around too fast to get on camera.
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    @Lin
    Nature preserves are fun. Keep going back with your camera, and you'll see them again.
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    @Interesting Pictures
    Thank you.

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  17. Greetings, Ratty...

    I have a special affection for barn swallows since we have a million of them living in our... BARN! And you're right, they zig and zag all over when they fly. The cats love to catch 'em...

    Great pics... : )

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  18. @Linda
    I'm surprised none of them fight back against the cats. They can sometimes get mean when threatened.

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  19. Wow, how big is this bird in person Ratty? It looks quite robust and the metallic coloration is really interesting.

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  20. @Lauren Axelrod
    These barn swallows are a little bit smaller than an American robin. They're about 5-9 inches long. That metallic coloring really makes them stand out while they're flying.

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  21. Goodness, Ratty, you really got terrific photographs of this little guy. He's a beautiful bird. I don't think I've ever seen one before...of course, I'm pretty much a city girl!

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