Jo's Morning Walk: Swallows of Lake Cuyamaca

When the wind comes up at the beach, some surfers make the best of the windy conditions to go windsurfing. When it comes to birding in the mountains you always have to deal with the chance that in high wind conditions you could be "windbirding" if you are willing to brave the cold and the high wind gusts that come though the mountain passes to get a few shots of interesting bird subjects.

Lake Cuyamaca is just a 4 mile drive south of my campsite in the Julian mountains. The wind has been pretty brutal the last few days and even today despite the sun coming out for a few minutes at a time, the wind started to pick up speed. Arriving at the lake, it was already quite windy but the swallows were out in full force over the lake. There must have been at least fifty of them flying into the lake area hunting for insects on the wing. I was enchanted by these violet and green beauties and most of the morning was spent trying to get flight shots as they flew over the lake. I would say I took at least 600 shots of the swallows but only a few to show you of these beautiful little swallows that fly around Lake Cuyamaca.

The Violet-green Swallow, Tachycineta thalassina, measures 5.25 inches long with a wing span of 13.5 inches.

These are a small swallow of the west that nest from Alaska to central Mexico. They nest in tree cavities and will use birdhouses. They will also nest in rock crevices on cliffs and in rugged terrain.

They forage for food in flight. Their prey consists of a wide variety of flying insects such as flies, bugs, wasps, winged ants, wild bees, beetles, moths and many other flying insects.

They often fly higher than other swallows but in bad weather, they are seen flying low as we see in these photos.

The female may lay from 4 to 6 eggs. The female does mostly all of the incubating. The eggs hatch in about 13 to 18 days. Both parents do the feeding of the nestlings but according to the Audubon website, the female does more. The nestlings fledge in about 23 to 24 days after hatching but the parents continue to feed them for quite a bit longer.

Interesting observation found on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a pair of Violet-green Swallows was observed assisting a pair of bluebirds in raising their young. The Swallows guarded the Bluebirds' nest and tended to the young. After the young Bluebirds fledged they took over the nest site for their own brood.

I spot several swallows resting on a small bare bush. Here is a back shot showing the violet and green coloring that they are named for.

There were many swallows that rested on this bush but soon flew out over the lake foraging for food again.

This is an adult male. The adult males are the ones that have the beautiful green head and back with violet on the wing and tail base.

With the wind blowing quite strong, sometimes the landing could get tricky.

Always scanning the sky for my favorite raptor, I spot the magnificent Bald Eagle as it flies past the lake.

Flying with his back to the sun, he raises his head just for a moment for me to get the catchlight in his eyes. What a beauty!

This swallow in the bush also spots him and keeps an eye on the skies above.

Stretching his beautiful wings.

A photo showing the white coloring on his face going above the eyes.

A closer look at his cute face.

As most birds in a cold and windy environment, they puff up to keep warm.

This photo shows the wing with both violet and green coloring.

With gusts of wind blowing some of the Swallows had a tricky landing on the nearby branch. Ouch! This looks a little painful. A rough landing on the tiny branch.