I have been observing (not photographing) this colony of Barn Swallows since April. They chose a picnic ground shelter at a state park for a nesting site. I was in the area photographing insects and realized like many small birds do, they raise two broods of chicks per year. They were busy staking out (and fighting over) the many pre-used nests along the ceiling of the shelter. One nest had fallen to the ground and sure enough the job of rebuilding that specific nest was happening while I observed. It was time for the nature photographer to go to work. After all if these little swallows could work that hard the least I could do was do my job. It was fascinating. Everybody pitched in but they would actually fight over the right to attach the next piece of mud to the wall. I have observed Bank Swallows and Purple Martins (our largest swallow) building nests and feeding the young and everyone works on every nest and everyone feeds any chick. They fight over the right. When a swallow has won the right to work on a nest or feed a baby then and only then would the other adult wait nearby for their chance. They will generally scream at the other adult to hurry it up so they can do their part. When you first observe this it seems like total chaos. Soon you realize that they know what they are doing and the colony will be successful in the end.
I love watching and photographing behavior in nature. While I enjoy the challenge of creating art in nature I will always consider it my job to tell the story of nature with my camera.
