This morning, there were 48 swallows perched on the power lines at Three Crabs, 2/3 were Violet-green, the rest Tree Swallows. This seems like an unlikely number on the fourth day of March, particularly when just to the north of us the landscape is still locked in the icy grip of winter. When the swallows did fly around, they did so quite high, at least a few hundred feet up. They were sallying high in the open where the wind was strongest, and one would surmise, the insects were fewest! Trying to understand birds is not easy. When one asks "why do they do it this way?", more often than not one gets into guesswork and speculation, but if the answers were easy, birding would not be half as challenging.

Bruce Paige
Sequim, WA

spruceak at yahoo.com