Over the years on the farm, I have come to recognize some of the indigenous creatures to actually be of benefit. This may appear quite odd due to my almost constant rambling on the negatives of creatures around the farm. However, there are some animals that I delight in seeing. One of these animals is the barn swallow.
Barn swallows get their name from the fact that they tend to nest in the eaves of barns. Luckily for me, the farm has a barn, and as a result, plenty of barn swallows. My first memory of these birds was when quite young. As I would mow the acres of grass on the property, these birds would swoop about the slow moving lawn tractor like a squadron of jet fighters, soaring in every direction, changing course at will, and seemingly always coming within feet of the vehicle. At that age, without any knowledge or education on those birds, I was not certain on whether they were dive bombing me or just, perhaps, playing around. Again, I was very young, and it has been a few decades that has allowed for my mind to clear on the subject and understand that they are one of the most beneficial creatures in the vicinity, that is, for an organic farmer.
These mid-sized birds are actually quite entertaining to witness. As mentioned above, they tend to move about in groups. Just this afternoon, while I was waiting for the delivery of the water storage tanks so desperately needed for irrigation purposes, there were thirty to thirty-one barn swallows perched upon the electric lines that lead from the road to the telephone pole near the house. Since I am still not completely familiar with their movements, I post the number on the electric line with a plus/minus differential of one. When a new barn swallow flew to perch, another would fly off. Only more experience will determine if this occurs consistently.
Over the past couple of years, I have come to term barn swallows as “hungry teenagers.” There are a few reasons for this. One, their jet fighter swooping tactics around a riding mower has nothing to do with pestering the human driver, but rather everything to do with nabbing insects midflight that are startled from their comfort zone by that obnoxious human-driven machine. Essentially, my mowing efforts stir up lunch. This is the “hungry” part of the term, for those barn swallows seem to have an insatiable appetite. Inevitably, once they discern my mowing action, they swoop and swarm for as long as a particular area is mowed, as long as three hours. As I have dwelled on this, the manner in which those birds swoop around, for hours, must surely burn off quite a few calories. Their midflight refueling must be absolutely essential.
Second, once one has witnessed a group of barn swallows perched together, say, on a rain gutter that runs the length of a greenhouse about four or five feet off the ground, the “teenager” part of the name will appear a perfect term. I have witnessed this many times. Greenhouse 2 rests on top of a fairly steep hill above Fields 3 and 4, into which those barn swallows love to swoop and hunt toward the evening hours. Almost as if on lunch break, a large group of them will collect and perch upon the gutter of the greenhouse just next to each other. Whereas some birds sing songs and trill out melodies, the “teenagers” twitter to each other in rapid fashion, often turning to the left to twitter to one compadre, then turn to the right to continue with another. This is an ongoing sequence of chittering/chattering/twittering that would make any school teacher feel compelled to command, “Hush!” Only it is recess! It’s play time! And in a matter of short sequence, the entire group leaves their nesting spot to dive bomb bugs too quickly and far away for my human eyes to bring into focus.
However, as much as I may love to witness these seemingly playful birds devour many unwanted pests on the farm, a brief reminder of a certain nemesis of mine brought about thoughts that were quite disturbing when they first appeared. The reminder was the appearance of a deer fly that landed on my shirt. With complete surprise that…filthy creature landed on me, and I was so unprepared for its intrusion that my swatting attempt was unsuccessful. They are supposed to be dormant by the end of June, at the latest! Ah, so be it, nature works in mysterious ways, or at least the evolutionary process anyhow. Nonetheless, a clear memory of those despicable deer fly reentered my mind.
It was early June. I was mowing grass in the front part of the property, and was a constant victim of those relentless deer fly attacks. As mentioned in a previous entry, with the loud noise of the mower’s engine, those deer fly were veritably impossible to detect, that is, until their bite was felt somewhere on the back, leg, arm, well, you get the idea. Then, the barn swallows appeared; a squadron from out of nowhere, so to speak, swooshing and swooping all around my slow movement in comparison to their rapid and ceaseless attack on those pests. And could it be? Deer flies?
I began to wonder if deer flies were one of the delectable treats that those marauding aerial attackers craved. At that time of year, they are surely one of the larger treats. And as one barn swallow came particularly close to me in its chase, I thought, “Eat up kiddies! Eat ‘em all up!” With a sense of relief, I continued to mow, and get bit by those…flies, but, I told myself, at least those barn swallows are nabbing quite a few of those nasty critters in the process.
I am completely aware that I have no proof that the barn swallows eat deer fly, but it is a comforting thought nonetheless. However, as my mind continued to dwell on that concept, a new nightmare soon developed in my mind. This may appear far-fetched, and very probably even further than something can be fetched, but…, well…, when it is hot out, flies are stinging multiple times a minute, or at least it seems, the mind tends to wander. My mind does anyway.
So here is the situation. Actually, before jumping to the hypothetical situation, a more clear description of barn swallow activity seems necessary. They almost always fly, or swoop in groups, only there is no organized approach to this. It appears completely chaotic. To watch their movements is mesmerizing. From all directions they swoop in, alter their course to the right or left, then alter again. Like no other creature I have ever witnessed, they can change direction as though the laws of gravity have no effect on them at all. Their dexterity is simply amazing. And they never run into each other, never! The same thing can surely not be said by us slow moving humans, but I digress.
So, what if, one of those attacking swoops on a deer fly actually was miscalculated. Just say, that a particular barn swallow was savoring those deer fly treats, swooped down to peck one mid-flight that had just scurried from its feast on my skin, and misjudged my movements and actually ended up puncturing my skin in the process, thereby experiencing the taste of my fresh blood. Would it then result that that barn swallow would realize that the delectable part of those deer flies was the salty flavor of my human blood?! What then? Will that friendly flyer deduce that it was attacking the wrong creature all along, and then decide to swoop down upon me? And as it would repeatedly dive and peck at me, would the others in the squadron follow suit? All of a sudden, these respected friends of the farm have become a Hitchcockian nightmare!!!
As visions of wearing Kevlar armor and some type of helmet while mowing grass on a hot day still lingers in my mind, I will press on and state that hopefully such a scenario does not develop. Instead, my hope is that those barn swallows remain in large numbers and continue to devour vast numbers of unwanted pests. For the moment, I am attempting to figure out how to direct them to certain plentiful crops, such as cucumber beetles. Those numbers could feed a few squadrons.