I am so used to seeing Tree Swallows that I sometimes don’t even notice that some other swallows may have turned up.
I was watching the resident heron today (last picture), and swallows kept flitting by. Oh well, take a few pictures. But, they weren’t tree swallows. The first was a Northern Rough–winged Swallow, the second…, well, that was a problem. While it looked like a Violet-green Swallow, the throat and colours seemed wrong. The problem seems twofold: it is a juvenile and hasn’t yet attained full adult plumage. And Carol Pettigrew of Beaks (bird rescue) tells me that the sooty feathers are a result of malnutrition—it has had an inadequate supply of bugs.
A Northern Rough–winged Swallow.
A young malnourished Violet-green Swallow has sooty feathers.
And another picture of our resident Great Blue Heron.
Shortage of bugs!! Not where I’ve been lately.
Menacing look to that heron Alistair. Imagine how the minnows feel, looking up to see that!
Oh no! The haunting photos of malnourished children at camps near Somalia pull on the heart-strings daily on television, and now —– malnourished immature Violet-green Swallows? We may never feel at peace again. Think I’ll skip dinner tonight, in solidarity with all fragile, hungry beings.
PS Our neighbourhood Magpies are not hungry. They found their protein in the two nests of Mourning Doves close to my home. Sigh. (At least the robins had better luck.)
Well, if the violet greens in your area lack, trust me, the birds and bats in the Lardeau are eating well! What a great crop of mosquitoes.