To celebrate Mother’s Day (this is gonna make me look really really bad), this morning I took Ingrid to a sand quarry located near the Auburn Mall (behind Hobby Lobby to be exact).  There, last summer I counted 134 Bank Swallow nests and watched dozens and dozens Swallows moving in and out to feed young.

Banks Swallows nest by burrowing into banks or cliffs, tunneling a couple feet into the embankment and then bending the burrow up or to the side where a chamber is hollowed out.  These tunnels are dug by males seeking to attract a female.

The female will accept her new home by presenting herself for mating (hanging onto the cliff).  After copulation  the female will build a nest in the burrow,

Back to Ingrid’s Mother’s Day Celebration . . . we only found one Bank Swallow nest when we arrived, but there were clearly several in construction and dozens of Swallows flying overhead.  

We also observed a couple copulations, let’s put it this way . . . stamina does not seem to be a priority with this species.

Anyway, a wonderful experience for a birding couple and Ingrid’s daughters and Step-son called later in the day to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.