[tn-bird] Re: Swallows, Brainerd Levee
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, dgpatterson@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 07:33:25 EDT
A little explanation on the opportunism of nesting Barn Swallows at Cliff
Swallow nest sites.
David,
You might go back and look closely at the base of the nest and you might find
the original structure was a Cliff Swallow nest. There is a difference in the
pellets and material between the two and division lines can be seen.
I've check a lot of swallow nest sites, at first because they were
interesting to watch and then I got interested in Bank Swallow colonies. Then
in finding first Cliff nestings in the counties along the Mississippi River.
Mark Greene reminds me that the first nesting in west TN found by Ben Coffey
was at a covered boat dock in Shelby Forest. Mark and I found the first for
Obion County at a boat shelter at Reelfoot after I watched a flyby on May 26,
1997. Now my main interest is in finding a Cave Swallow nest here in TN. I
had short and distant looks of a bird here in Memphis that was most likely a
Cave Swallow but the photos were not conclusive, so a nest or a bird visiting
a colony is the next best chance to adding this bird to the list.
I have seen a lot of interesting things spending long hours watching these
colonies. I found Rough-winged Swallows nesting in Bank Swallow holes. I
located the first Bank Swallow nests for Mississippi and when checking one
hole grabbed a Black Rat Snake that was sleeping inside. I was checking these
nests after breeding season because I had seen both Bank and Rough-winged in
the area and there is a difference in the type material found in the lining
of the two species. Needless to say the snake was an UNEXPECTED BONUS. This
small colony was active a couple of years and I did not check the inside of
the nests again!
At the Bank Swallow colony at Fulton, TN, on the Mississippi River I found a
Cliff Swallow nest in the middle of the Bank Swallow colony, stuck to the
under side of a terra cotta pipe; evidently the pipe was part of a septic
system of a building long since lost to the river.
Good Birding!!!
Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.
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