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Description
Taken at Beaver Marsh, Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Ohio

A couple mornings ago the sun was shining through wispy clouds and being the unemployed bum that I am now, I decided to take advantage of the weather and head down to Beaver Marsh for some bird watching and landscape photography. Little did I realize that as a harbinger of spring, the tree swallows come out in droves to the pond and swoop around, making their nests in the dead trees that jut from the water.

Beaver Marsh has a platform that juts out into the water so you can be slightly surrounded by some dead trees; this is where the tree swallows were coming and resting after flying around for a while and so I was able to get within ten feet of these beautiful birds. I'd never seen them so close up before and to be able to just watch them from so short a distance was wonderful. While they weren't completely fearless or territorial of humans in the area, they didn't spook easily and so you could get a lot of wonderful shots of these gorgeous avians.

Tree Swallows are not in danger of becoming extinct, however as with many wild animals, human habitation has begun to encroach on the tree swallows' ability to find natural cavities in trees in which to have their nests. They can be enticed however with nest boxes (much like those used for bluebirds) and if you wish to make your backyard tree swallow friendly, it's an inexpensive way to continue to help the wildlife in your area.

Description
Taken at Beaver Marsh, Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Ohio

A couple mornings ago the sun was shining through wispy clouds and being the unemployed bum that I am now, I decided to take advantage of the weather and head down to Beaver Marsh for some bird watching and landscape photography. Little did I realize that as a harbinger of spring, the tree swallows come out in droves to the pond and swoop around, making their nests in the dead trees that jut from the water.

Beaver Marsh has a platform that juts out into the water so you can be slightly surrounded by some dead trees; this is where the tree swallows were coming and resting after flying around for a while and so I was able to get within ten feet of these beautiful birds. I'd never seen them so close up before and to be able to just watch them from so short a distance was wonderful. While they weren't completely fearless or territorial of humans in the area, they didn't spook easily and so you could get a lot of wonderful shots of these gorgeous avians.

Tree Swallows are not in danger of becoming extinct, however as with many wild animals, human habitation has begun to encroach on the tree swallows' ability to find natural cavities in trees in which to have their nests. They can be enticed however with nest boxes (much like those used for bluebirds) and if you wish to make your backyard tree swallow friendly, it's an inexpensive way to continue to help the wildlife in your area.