Evening at the Lake

Our community has four lakes.  We live near Lake Atagahi, the largest of the four.  [Our house is only half a million dollars away.]  I often go down to the park on Lake Atagahi near sunset.  I especially love it this time of year because I rarely see any other people.  It's too soon for the evening picnics and late swimming that will fill the park later on.  I'm happy that so many people enjoy the lake and the park, but it surely will disturb my solitude.  But at this time of year the lake is all mine.

I'm always thrilled to see the Barn Swallows as they go about building their amazing mud nests.  The netting you will see in the photographs was put up to discourage the swallows from nesting under the roof of the cabana.  Fortunately, the clever swallows use a gap in the netting to anchor their nests.

This swallow stares at the intruder with her camera.

Another flies up to assist.

They become more suspicious of the clicking and fly over to sit on a beam.

Finally one of them returns to the nest.

I put down my camera and watched the swallows skimming along the lake for insects and grabbing mud by the shore for nest building.  It is an amazing sight to see such large numbers of these beautiful birds flying around.  After a while my presence went unnoticed.  Oh, what a treat.  I sat there for quite a while until a pair of geese caught my attention.

A pair of Canada Geese pass by.

When I looked up at the sky, I saw the dark clouds heralding a storm.

While I was looking out over the lake I failed to notice the darkening sky.  I quickly headed for home before the storms began.  Once safe again at home, we sat on the screened porch and watched the lightning streak across the sky.  We had some rain but were spared the really bad parts of the storm that did severe damage throughout the state. It was a lovely evening.

An Evening by the Lake

The lake near our house is usually quiet. No loud motors, no jet skiis. Just kayaks, pontoons, canoes smoothly gliding through the water. The other side of the lake is louder, with a large park and a swimming area. The sounds of children playing and swimming echo over the lake.

But our end of the lake is almost always serene, and never more so than at dawn or dusk. I especially love the lake when the mist is rising.

I sit there, letting my mind go blank and momentarily forgetting about anything I might be worried about.

A little swallow takes in the last rays of sunshine.

The trees turn black as the sun sets behind them.

As I leave the darkening lake, I always feel calm and refreshed. I would love to see the lake awakening at sunrise. I am definitely a night person but perhaps I'll make it one of these mornings.

There's Always A Swallow

I often wish PBS would do the "News Hour" at a different time. Watching the reports of news around the world often makes me a bit uneasy in the evenings. I find the in-depth reporting disturbing as I learn more and more components to big business and political madness. So afterwards I try to find ways of relaxing my brain and soothing my troubled spirit.

Many evenings I go down to a nearby lake and just sit and watch the swallows. I love the way they dip and zip and skim over the water snatching insects. Watching them is especially nice this time of year because they have nests full of little ones.

There are about six nests in this shelter so there is plenty of action. Watching the swallows go about their work is somehow soothing to me. It affirms that perhaps things may be all right after all. In a very short time, this spot will be filled with fluttering fledglings and what a sight that will be. It's comforting to know that year after year the swallows return to nest here and provide an evening's entertainment.


As I turned to leave the lakeshore, I stop to admire the Rose of Sharon. Not a rose at all, it is nonetheless a lovely bush that flowers all summer long.

So while I can't stop watching the news, I can still find peace at the lake and let my mind drift away from the troubling news of the day.

The second brood of baby Barn Swallows has hatched. There appear to be five of them and they are so newly hatched that only two of them are ready to be fed by the parents. The others wag their unstable little heads and pay no real attention to the parents when they bring food.





The baby on the right appears to be the largest of the group. his mouth opens immediately when food arrives.

The parent seems to be checking which babies are ready to be fed.

A second baby on the far left opens his mouth for food.

I could sit for ours watching Barn Swallows. They flit and turn, catching the insects in midair. They fly to the nest at amazing speeds and both parents help with the feeding. Much like bluebirds, the first brood often helps feed the second one.

Swallow Nest Revisited

First, a big THANK YOU for all your kind comments about my health. I am feeling absolutely fine. Not surprisingly, my endurance is not what it was but otherwise I feel fine. I can do anything I feel like doing. My diet is not severely restricted but I need to steer clear of things that might mechanically or chemically irritate the stomach, no fresh raw veggies (bummer), and no caffeine or wine. My blood work yesterday was quite good with my hemoglobin continuing to rise toward normal.

The entire episode seems surreal now. After six days in an ICU bed attached to IVs, automatic blood pressure monitoring, cardiac monitoring, pulse oximetry monitoring, automatic alternating pressure leggings, etc., I have never felt such comfort as when I slip into my own bed at night. Life is indeed good!

A couple of days before the "incident" I went down to check on the sparrows. They were still incubating at the time and not at all happy to see me.

Oh rats! Here she is again.


Go away lady!

Hmm guess I told her.

I can't believe she is still here.

All right. I'll give you one good pose and then you're out of here.

I hope to get down to the dock soon to see if the little ones have hatched.

I really missed our birds while I was in the hospital. We have more fledglings than I recall in a long time. Little titmice, goldfinches, chickadees, and nuthatches are fluttering all over trying to figure out the feeders. Yesterday I saw a towhee feeding his fledgling. What a treat.

Swallows in the Mist

We have had intermittent showers since Friday. With more than 6 inches of rain in 72 hours, we have some areas of flash flooding with the French Broad Basin swollen out of its banks. Our entire community is shrouded with dense fog or mist. Good for the flora, but not so good for photographs. I knew it was time for the Barn Swallows to nest, so I ventured out anyway, knowing the pictures wouldn't be all that great. Foggy pictures are better than no pictures.

Every year the swallows nest under a cabana built over one of our lakes. Every year the maintenance people place screens or other material to discourage the nest building. (http://ncmountainwoman.blogspot.com/2008/05/swallow-controversy.html) And every year the swallows build there anyway.

I have no idea why anyone would object to having these delightful birds around, especially given the number of insects they consume every year. But apparently some people don't like the idea of the birds flitting about so near their precious children in the swimming area. You figure.

I caught this guy bringing mud to work on his nest. He glared at me and I was happy he wasn't able to speak. I don't think he had very kind words. (Enlarge to see his expression.)




Inside, another bird is also bringing straw and mud. The nest looks almost complete. Note the screening this year. It's plasticized and superior to regular screen. Of course, not all the swallows are deterred.

The swallow packs the straw deeper into the nest.

Still a bit leery of my presence, the bird continues working with an occasional glance in my direction.

The swallow settles down inside the nest to pack the materials, or maybe to take a rest. These nests are hard work.

On the opposite side of the cabana, another swallow is carrying nesting materials as well.

He has chosen to build outside the cabana under the eaves.

I saw ten nests in various stages of construction. It was wonderful standing there in the mist with the swallows flitting around me as they did their work. After a while they became accustomed to my presence and some of them flew inches over my head on the way to their nests. It was a good time. Just me and the swallows.

Swallows at Connemara

When we visited the Sandburg home, we were delighted to find swallows nesting in the goat barn. The volunteer said this is the first year they have nested there, which seemed very strange to me.

The nest looks unstable, sitting above and overlapping an electrical outlet. Full of little ones, it looks as if it might crumble at any minute. It shakes with their activity. The nest isn't nearly as neat and trim as the ones at our community cabana, but it appears to be holding up so far.

The resident cat is temporarily excluded from the barn. I don't think she likes it very much.

Yes, Laura Bush visited Connemara Monday afternoon. Here she is with some of the Junior Rangers. Senator Elizabeth Dole is on the left of the picture.

Picture downloaded from the White House Website.

[I'll bet they wouldn't be so happy had they known I didn't get my invitation.]

Swallows Update

The Barn Swallows continue to thrive at the cabana on Lake Atagahi. There are now five nests, each with fledglings of various ages. Here are some of the parents and little ones.

I love to go down and watch them skimming the water for insects to feed the fledglings. They are such beautiful birds, and every insect they catch is one less to catch me.

George Money and the Lens

We finally got our George money (also known as Bush money, guv'mnt money, or economic stimulus money). We had decided to buy a new lens for the camera to boost the economy. Not having thought to ask our accountant how much we would get, we were stunned at how small the check was. "Are you sure there isn't another check in there?"

We decided to get the lens anyway. (So "Happy Father's Day" and "Happy Birthday." Oh, and "Thanks George") Having gotten the lens, I was ready to shoot birds. Unfortunately, we are having record-breaking high temperatures and the birds are pretty quiet. I decided to stay off the deck and let them eat and drink in peace.

Then I remembered the swallows. Hey, they are living in the cabana by the lake. Surely they would be active. I drove down to the swimming hole and found lots of parents (the human kind) at the cabana. I walked down anyhow to take a look. Yes, there was the swallow, getting ready to take off in search of food.




She came back with food and circled around several times over the heads of the people standing there. Finally, she took the food to the nest.

I didn't get a picture of her actually feeding the little ones. Some really cute smarty pants 8-year-old decided to cannonball into the water and splash right where I was standing. Since the lens is brand new, I certainly didn't want it to get wet. So I left.

When I got back to the car, I took a shot of the parents "watching" their kids. As far as I can see, only the man on the left is paying any attention to the swimming area. The man on the right, with his hand on the post is standing directly under the swallow's nest.

I'm hoping to become more skilled at using this marvelous little toy and to be a bit above novice for the fall migration.

Meanwhile, there's no relief in sight for our almost unprecedented heat wave. So please dance a rain dance and send us some rain.

Swallow Controversy

Our community has four lakes. We can fish, canoe, kayak or swim in any of them. Motors are limited to small electric trolling motors for fishing boats. No water skis or jet skis. The largest lake, Lake Atagahi has an area designed for young children to swim/play safely. A walkway with cabana surrounds the shallow swimming area.


The cabana is perfect for Barn Swallows. The eaves and rafters are great for nest-building. Flying insects are abundant and the swallows can skim over the lake for insects that float on the water. In fact, the cabana is so perfect that the numbers of Barn Swallows using it increased every year. The mud bowls grew more and more numerous.

Some concerned moms and grandmothers decided that the swallows posed a health risk to the children playing in the water and on the beach. They demanded that the community board do something to keep the swallows from coming back to the cabana.

The board decided to cover the rafters with screens to deny access to the rafters. Recently I took a walk to see what was going on. I was delighted to see swallows. One was sitting on a metal prominence.

A perfect swallow’s nest was attached outside the eaves. Built right on the very screen put in place to prevent it. I find the nests absolutely fascinating. How many trips does such a small bird have to make in order to bring in that much mud?

Inside was another nest.

I’m glad the swallows are here. And I hope we can all peacefully coexist.