Swallows use the element the eagle glides on differently and are no less graceful though appear busier. Because they are swift, they are controllers of insects. Exercise for our eyes with their considerable velocity and turns that beguile the mind as we try to track them moving in, out, over and under one another. They are indeed beautiful, stationary or in flight. Another of natures evolving creatures.
When they come to rest at night, unfortunately in a place where the Cassilis Recreation Reserve Committee of Management wish they would not. They tend to supply the ground under their roosting area with fertiliser of a quality that is very desirable and priceless. However when left to dry for a few days this valuable plant food sticks to the concrete floor and is difficult to lift, also leaving a stain as evidence of its presence, much like a natural graffiti.
Visitors who like to have a relatively clean place to sit and eat or just sit, do not desire to do so amongst this growth promotant. So we have placed a net ceiling in the shed to deter the swallows from resting during the hours of darkness in this place. Where they will go is of no notice to us, nature is indifferent, and we cannot do anything to ease their dismay at finding what they thought was night accommodation erected for their ease, is now off limits. We block our mind from the fact they may find themselves in a place where a predator may also be able to find them and hope they will be safe for at least the first night of dispossession and reconnoitre another, better on the second evening.
We washed the floor, table and chairs and hopefully this will remain relatively clean. At least free from plant fertiliser in the future and wherever the swallows have gone, their fertiliser will be appreciated.
Maybe they have gone to Capistrano? If so, the soil there will be much improved.
