When ever I mow the tall grass near our pasture, the Barn Swallows whip past me
happily. As I mow, I kick up a lot of small flying insects. The swallows go
after these big time. I suspect that when you are walking in Golden Gardens,
you too are flushing bugs.

When I was about 10, though, we had swallows nesting in a box in our back yard
(Tree Swallows, if I remember correctly). They used to dive-bomb the cats, who
would crouch, both extremely interested and rather terrified by these fast
fliers. The swallows would even rake the tops of the cat's heads. To my
knowledge, the cats NEVER caught a swallow - the birds were too fast and too
aggressive. It was fun to watch cats cower...

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== hummer at isomedia.com


----- Original Message -----
From: Cliff Drake <cdrake at zipcon.net>
>
> lydia wrote:
>
> >He thought the swallows swooping around the
> >golf course were "attacking" the golfers as they swoop and turn just in
> >the nick of time in front of the golfers.
>
> I see that all the time down at the Golden Gardens ponds, they seem to treat
> people as Pylons. It looks like sport, but I'm sure they're just feeding. I
> had a close encounter with a Barn Swallow Friday, I was visiting a friend
> and as I walked up to the house a chattering Barn Swallow followed me. As I
> was walking up to the door it hovered and flew a mere two-odd feet from my
> head. We assumed a nearby nest, but we couldn't see one. When a bird doesn't
> want me around I usually leave, so I didn't spend too much time looking.
>
>