Strands of swallows,
in parallel lines.
An abacus of birds,
synchronized in Holler Skies.
Cheers to you from the geometrical swallows~
Strands of swallows,
in parallel lines.
An abacus of birds,
synchronized in Holler Skies.
Cheers to you from the geometrical swallows~
As always, great photography, but how do you train them to do that, get them all in line and so forth, like a Drill Sergeant training soldiers?
Yes, I have a certificate in advance bird synchronized flying. I can’t do it of course, but that doesn’t stop me from teaching it! 😉
I also saw them once in France at the Atlantic coast. It is a great show how they come and fly about, settle again and also how they chirp. Thanks for remembering about it with your beautiful pictures.
Ahhh, so happy the birdies triggered such a lovely memory!
look at all the birds!!! reminds me of the Hitchcock classic avian horror film “THE BIRDS”😳😳😳🙀🙀🙀
Yes! It does, doesn’t it. The sychronized flocking behavior of birds is so surreal it seems eerie. Hitchcock was a genius to exploit this.
yup, no kiddin..but up until that movie’s release no one even considered birds dangerous. Hitchcockpreyed on a very deeply sublimated recognition and guilt that after all the damage we’ve done to nature, nature may strike back…
He did so brilliantly, but I do agree with you, just as Jaws unfairly depicted sharks, Hitchcock unfairly demonized birds. Unfortunately some people believe what they see in the movies. I don’t think ravens have yet recovered from Hitch’s completely fictional depiction of them.
Not just Hitchcock demonized Ravens and crows, the Omen, the exorcist, and nearly every devil inspired horror film had at least 1 or 2 crows/Ravens flying around delivering messages from Satan himself…personally I luv em..their my animal totem after all😉😍👍🏽❤️
I think the reason people demonize animals like ravens is because they exist so successfully despite human attempts to eradicate them. People don’t like this. They fear animals that demonstrate a greater evolutionary adaptive advantage over them.
I say to the ravens, “Live long and prosper.”
Great pics 🙂
Thank you & your blog title rocks!
🙂 Thanks!
how is youe neck, ldid this require some yoga poses on your part?
Mostly, I just look incredibly stupid!
Brilliant!
Awww, thank you Carrie. I need to do an amazon review of your “Eating Bull.” I loved it! The characterization was so well done, so realistic, and the plot was compelling. Wonderful book Carrie~
Thank you! So nice to hear! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
You are both intelligent and nice, the best possible combination.
Wow, these are swallows isn’t it
They are indeed!
It must be a party line.
xxx Huge Hugs Cindy xxx
Excellent!!! Wish I thought of that!
Simply stupendous shots, Cindy
Awww, I am honored. Thank you & cheers too~
Thanks for the amazing photos! ( It saves my lying down on the ground to see the spectacle, as I was tempted to do at the Sistine Chapel).. someone going to the trouble to make such beautiful pictures makes it much easier for we grateful viewers!
Thank you Cynthia and I love seeing your lovely face! Love your new gravatar. You and I were lucky to see The Sistine Chapel when there was room to lie down. Now people pack in there like sardines, with no room to breathe. It’s awful. Be well my friend~ <3
How did you train them to sit there for you?😂😂😂
I have a certificate in advanced bird synchronized flying! 😉 😉
Love these photos! Birds are pretty miraculous, aren’t they?
Science is studying birds now for their synchronized flying. They don’t understand how they do this, much like fish in schools when they swim in balls. They are looking at things like phenome communication and esp to explain how birds do this instantaneously, so yes, bird behavior is truly fascinating.
Really amazing!
Did they get lost on their way to Capistrano?
https://youtu.be/BXyKe43pE2Y
This is so right-on Wally! I used to go as a kid to Capistrano and see the annual migration and I know this song well! Swallows are amazing flocking birds. The bald eagles were quite interested in them when I took these shots yesterday!
Oh-oh. Eagle food. Drats!
Laughing, yes, exactly.
Those are great shots!
So appreciated Laura! <3
You’re welcome! (typed in between Warrior plays)
I am impressed you took a break! Go Warriors!
“An abacus of birds.” Perfect.
Ahhh, thank you!
Awesome & amazing! 🙂
The flocking behavior is similar to the Monarchs and it is amazing!
Fabulous! We are seeing the first swallows here, but they don’t all sit in the same place at the same time!
I am intrigued by these guys. They just returned over and over to stack up every centimeter of the wires with fully packed swallows. I wonder why.
I’ve read they are creatures of habit and return to their breeding sites and successful nesting grounds.
They are and they do this, but they also deviate, leaving anticipatory swallow lovers bereft, when they abandon a tradtional nesting site and move en-mass somewhere else.
Having seen the swallows abandon Capistrano, I suspect they seek places with less people.
Smart swallows.
Amazing, they look like little banners in the wind!
All lined up, hundreds of them, in the same directions, even if on different wires.
Awesome shots! How many million swallows were there? 🙂
On these lines only, many, many hundreds. All together in The Holler, I have no idea. Certainly many thousands.
Cool pictures and the concept behind them! When I see a lot of birds on the wire as such it makes me wondering what they are thinking or they communicating to each other … ?
Exactly. How do they control such perfect flocking behavior, especially when hundreds do it at precisely the same nano-second.
above response is directed on u Cindy😉🙄😎
I agree with what you are saying 100%. Be well my friend~ <3
What a fun way to look at it.
So happy you enjoyed~
Talk about birds of a feather! Reminds me of an abacus!
Yes, me too, a bird abacus~
I love the birds on the wire! Have a wonderful weekend Cindy!Hugz Lisa and Bear
So glad you do and hugs back to you!
Geniale Fotos !!
Grazie di cuore! <3
These are beautiful shots of the birds,Cindy. 🙂
I am happy you like them Ranu & cheers to you my friend~ <3
Very creative angles and a different way to look at birds and the sky! You are always creative, Cindy!
So fun…the photos, your poem! <3 And I loved David Prosser's joke, too! Happy weekend, Cindy!
Yep, he is hilarious, wish I had thought of his pun!
OMG! The eagle’s had babies!!
Cracking up. I think she over dosed on her fertility meds~
Stunning and so many. There just don’t seem to be so many around here now. I have some pics of young house martins gathering in Autumn. Your aerial views are brilliant.
Awwww, thanks so much. This seems to be an epic year at The Holler for spring birds. The eagles are here and I see them regularly!
Perfecton… amazing photographs, dear Cindy-. 🌻🌟 happy weeekend to you… love and best wishes. Aquileana
Visa versa 2UX2! I think it’s time for me to return to Patagonia. I miss it! Lucky you, spring is here.
Seriously wonderful. And to think I was excited that I saw four swallows today and got two in one shot. I wish I had that many in my yard to gobble up the mosquitoes.
All the song birds go crazy at dusk here near the creek eating knats and mosquitos. Good birdies. I have never been bitten.
Good birdies indeed. Right after I posted my comment, I made a cup of tea and went to sit on my back deck, I looked up and there were 20 swallows weaving and diving in my backyard.
How lovely! The only time I’ve managed to photograph swallows has been when they’ve been trying to avoid the camera… which produces unfortunately blurry photos.
Yes, they flit around catching bugs in what looks like erratic paths, but then out of the apparent controlled chaos, comes these perfectly executed flocks.
Love this!
So glad you do and thank you!
Looks a bit like a birdie abacus.
My thoughts exactly!
Marvelous! I wish we got numbers like these. I’m beginning to worry…ours are late.
They do alter their migration habits. Capistrano for example has dwindling numbers.
I walked today over at my neighbor’s field with a dozen nest boxes and saw 8 tree swallows. Not a huge flock, but I was relieved to see them. Bird numbers are dropping at an alarming rate everywhere it seems. 🙁
Awesome 🙂
Yay! Thank you & cheers too~
Geometry lesson with true beauty 🙂
Awwww, you are such a lovely friend~
Great photos as always. I love the way birds sit on wires like that. I wonder why they do that? 🙂 <3
It is so mysterious and so organized. There is so much about nature that we don’t understand and I love this mystery.
Oh me too Cindy! Well said my friend!!! 👍😊❤️
I know you do Natalie! <3
They’re beautiful little birds. Love them! 😀
Anyone who loves birds is a friend of mine!
So civilized aren’t they? Truly like an abacus… Ahhh someone should create one like that. It would be quite a hit among us bird lovers – art imitates life! I wonder how many there are in that flock! Thanks for sharing this amazing sight with us Cindy! 🙂
Yes, civilized and organized which is pretty amazing isn’t it. They get along so well, unlike many humans. A bird abacus would be pretty rocking. You could use different size species for the beads. There were certainly hundreds of birds. How many hundreds? I have no idea.
I have nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award. The information follows: https://charlesfrenchonwordsreadingandwriting.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/the-sunshine-blogger-award-2/
I saw on your post that you did this and I was very touched. Thank you Charles. It is a true pleasure to know you.
Wow Cindy, that’s a lot of swallows!
Alison
Many hundreds all spread in strands along the lines. Pretty amazing.
Beautifully amazing Cindy– you could not have orchestrated this! (and I love the title– perfect!). Happy weekend. xo
Can you imagine attempting to herd swallows!
“Okay birdies, 500 of you line up here with no spaces in-betweem. Now, 10 of you line up here with equal spaces between.”
It boggles the mind.
I’d like to see someone try! xo
Wow, amazing pictures! 🙂
Ahhh, many thanks Christopher!
Nothing like a perfect “regiment” 😀
Remarkable isn’t it, and all without a drill seargant!
:))))))))))))))))
Wow, birds on a wire! Amazes me how they can all just sit there, like there’s plenty of room to just hang out!!
It was fascinating to watch how the late fly-ins joined the line perfectly, finding the very small spaces they could fit in.
Brilliant
So thoughtful. Thank you!
What an amazing site – especially like the ones where some birds are flying to join the others
Yes, I was amazed how they found the tiny spaces to fit into!
Fantastic views and pictures, Cindy. It seems they were putting on a show for you. 🙂 — Suzanne
They certainly were well choreagraphed!
Stunning shots, Cindy, as always…. 🙂
Awww, so kind and so appreciated! <3
Da sind sie also alle noch! Bei uns ist am 14. April die erste Schwalbe angekommen. Sie hockt auf der alten TV-Antenne und zwischert sich einen – ganz alleine. Offenbar die Quartiermacherin. 🙂
Ja, der erste Aufklarung ist angekommen. Bald wird der Rest folgen! <3
That is so cool. And amazingly captured, Cindy. Thanks for this fun post. Hugs!
So pleased you enjoyed Teagan and cheers to you!
I call these gatherings “bird parties” and you captured it so well!
The name certainly fits and I am glad you have seen it. It’s pretty amazing isn’t it!
Did you have an umbrella at the ready while you were underneath, Cindy? Great images.
Laughing, I didn’t and thankfully didn’t need it. They were a well disciplined regiment! 😉
Spectacular composition Cindy, awesome!
Honored. Thank you so much!
Spectacular✨
Merci beaucoup mon ami!
das ist ja hübsch, alles Gute für heute und die kommende Woche
Vielen Dank und alles Gute fur Sie! <3
wünsche eine gute Woche
Like a bird on the the wire,
Like a drunk at a midnight choir ~
Nice shots 😀
“I have tried in my way to be free.”
Such a hauntingly honest song.
You’re getting too good at this. Next week The Beach Boys play Bach (Bach won). 🙂
so cute
Thank you Billie. <3
très surprenant ces images
like
Anita
Merci beaucoup mon ami! <3
mais je t’en prie
🙂
So amazing, Cindy! 😀
Birds just are! <3
That’s a fact. 🙂
<3
What a great set of photos of the bird convention!
It was the best possible convention, no keynote speaker, no compulsory meetings, just air and sunshine~ 😉
Amazing pictures!
Ahhh, thank you kindly~ <3
Surely THAT many swallows really do make a summer???
Ah, she quotes Aristotle. You do see why I love bloggers so! I think it might make a summer, but we would have to ask Aristotle, remember he said, “nor one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.”
He may in fact be saying what you you just did, that hundreds of swallows, like hundreds of days of happiness may be enough.
It is for me.
<3
We’ve moved into a new concept, Cindy – Blogosophy!
You are not just another photographer, bird whispered, pretty face…
Talk about synchronicity.
Yes, the underlying order of nature beneath the seeming chaos.
This is so refreshing
I’m so glad and cheers to you!
These are absolutely mind-blowing and beautiful. Thanks so much.
You are a thoughtful friend Hilary. Cheers to you! <3
You’re a poet, too!! Love this, Cindy. I’ve often wondered why birds always seem to face the same direction when they’re sitting on a wire. Can you imagine the confusion if one decided to face the opposite way??!!
I turned these photos around 360 degrees to see how they would look turned around. The effect was lost because of just what you noticed. Every single one lined up with precision, all facing the same way. Incredible example of the order underlying the natural world. Really pleased you notice this too!
So cool!
Grazie Mille~
Birds on a wire! 🙂
Clever birdies~
Indeed! Great shot!
Thank you, the photos make an interesting set~
I’ve never seen that many swallows in one place. How nice of them to line up for your photos 🙂
I thought so too and I only barked out a few commands!
🙂
Hundreds up there, I’m sure! What a scene, Cindy! Thank you so much for sharing with us. )
Yes there were many hundreds and sharing with people like you is half the fun! Be well Amy~ <3
🙂 <3
synchronised serendipity
Love the alliteration!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Cindy Knoke captures the aerial beauty created when birds get into line…
Thank you so much Sally. Can you even imagine what human beings could accomplish if we could cooperate like this!
We probably would not need politicians! hugs
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/de/68/ec/de68ec868233213d5501f6aca7356a5d.jpg
Haha!
Ann
Love it! Interesting that these birds are facing in different directions. The swallows are all facing the same way.
good catch Cindy, that is interesting.
¡Qué increible colección de fotos! Nunca había visto tantas golondrinas juntas. Es un post maravilloso. Felicidades, Cindy!!!
Tu son una gran amiga. Gracias por su amabilidad. Saludos y abrazos~ <3 <3
Sehr schöne Aufnahmen Cindy. Danke fürs zeigen…
Ich danke Ihnen sehr Ernst und haben eine wunderbare Woche mein Freund!
Wow !!!! That is fantastic !!!
Thanks so much. Bird behavior never ceases to amaze!
I like swallows. 🙂
They are so diligent. It’s impressive~
They are all facing the same direction, come to notice. They are probably just facing the sun, but it is still a great line up. 🙂
Not sure what I was expected from the title, so the surprise made me smile.
Your comment just made me smile! 🙂
eine gute Woche wünsche ich dir
Haben eine wunderbare Woche mein lieber Freund.
Amazing shots, Cindy. What a line-up!
And the police didn’t even make them do it! 😉 :O
Ha!
Double WOW, Cindy! You are amazing.
You are very kind and most appreciated! <3
Very cool photos and I am hoping you did not get a birdie land mine dropping as you stood underneath taking these photos.
Thank you and I actually didn’t stand directly in the line of fire!
Those are very pretty swallows. Different coloring than the ones around here.
Yes, I was accoustomed to a differetnt type also. These are a really pretty blue.
Extremely creative compositions, Cindy.
So lovely to say, thank you!
Great photos!
Grazie mille!
De nada!
<3
Cindy, what an incredible photograph! I could not imagine how they got so close with not much space between them. It would be neat to see them gather and fit themselves in between the others. You know I love birds! 😉
I know you do and I was intrigued by the spacing too and you can see them flying into the spaces in the other photos. So odd the way when not crowded on the lines, they space themselves at almost equal distances. Birds must have incredible spatial awareness.
Hello Cindy
Wonderful photos!
Nice and warm, spring greetings.
Happy Spring back to you Marko and thank you for your thougthful comments~
I love the unique perspective your photos bring ☺
How kind of you to say and most appreciated too! Thank you~
Hugs ☺
The blues go so well with everything.
Synchronization to its max.
Shiva
Clever birdies do this all without a choreographer! Thanks much & cheers to you~
What an amazing capture Cindy! You took my breath away 💛
Birds just have all this sensory apparatus that we don’t, especially their spatial awareness and their innate GPS! Bird brained means smart.
Bird brained is ultra smart to me too Cindy 💛
<3
Hi Cindy, could you do me a favor, I respect your true opinion.. would you look at my
http://www.sherrisofpalmsprings.com/ this is my google.- and tell me what you think of what I wrote on the top of the page. under the header. I would appreciate it. good band or otherwise..
huggs
Sherri
I like it a lot. What a creative endeavor and what fun! The only suggestion would be to remove the yours, ie., “I did this for yours and my convenience.” You might want to say, “I did this for user convenience,” or, “I did this for convenience.” Otherwise, it looks awesome-pawsome Sherri~
Oh thank you so so much dear Cindy, glad you found my mistakes… I am really bad at english.. lost it a hundred years ago..
Laughing. I am certain that is when this happened to you. You have to know I am a very proud queen of the typo, I love screwing around with, and messing up, the completely illogical English language, and I love even more when people don’t like it when I do.
I only said this because you asked, and even though I know the rules of English grammar, I don’t respect them at all.
You can choose to be grammatically correct, or creative.
I love the latter most, hands down, all the time.
<3 <3
Birds are fascinating little creatures. You were brave to stand under them to snap these photos.
I actually am not that brave! I stood off to the side~ 😉 😉
Haha!
🙂
Swallows bring back memories of boyhood on the farm, Cuz. We had 3-4 families of them that came back every year, nesting in the rafters of the barn. They were nearly tame and seemed to tolerate us working so close to them and their nests. Beautiful birds too. Great pics ! 🙂
Meeting you Mr. Barton is really one of the highlights of blogging. Your memories translate into such beauty. You are so impressive in the ways that really matter, translating human experience into artistic beauty.
Long may you prosper.
Enroute to your second home tomorrow, Florida, to cross the Atlantic to Spain & Portugal.
Isis says there are going to blow up tourists in Spain.
If they do, I hope I get their photos first, to clarify what cowards look like.
Be well Paul.
Have you been hypnotising those birds? Amazing shots Cindy!!
Laughing, I think it is more the other way around! 😉
Perhaps that’s true!!! 🙂
Bonsoir BELLE CINDY les hirondelles annoncent le retour du soleil
Je viens tout en douceur
Avec mon petit sourire
Et ma bonne humeur
Te souhaiter tout ce qu’il peux y avoir de meilleur dans ce monde
Passe une belle soirée
Une très belle fin semaine surtout avec du soleil
Je te fais un très grand signe d’amitié
Pleins de bisous pour embellir cette amitié qui règne entre nous depuis xxx temps
Bernard
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/507001cuicui.jpg
Beau! Merci beaucoup mon cher ami. Vous etes tres gentil .
Spectacular view！
So pleased you enjoyed and cheers to you!
Amazing!
Ahhh, so glad and thank you!
How charming are they all hanging out together. At the lake, I build three bird houses for the garden and the swallows always came to rebuild their nests. I loved watching them swoop around but I’ve never seen so many in one place. Amazing!
I was pretty surprised by this! I have a bird house by the front door that no bird has ever nested in do to our human traffic. But now a swallow family has nested, so we no longer use the front door!
Amazing Cindy, how beautiful!
They are clever and beautiful biridies!
So wonderful photos 🙂
Awwwwww, so kind! Thank you~
So beautiful to look at. Thanks Cindy for sharing this. Can i share this to pinterest?
Thank you so much and I would be honored! Sorry for the delay in response, but I am in the mid-Atlantic in the midst of a “bit of a blow” right now!
It’s ok no need for an apology. Take Care.
<3
Is this part of seasonal migration behaviour for them?
Yes, it is. They used to go further north, but have changed their pattern.
hahahaha – these make me laugh and smile BIG – awesome shots
Awwwww, you just made me smile!
😀
Lovely unique photography 😀
So kind and much appreciated!
Very pretty
<3
Nice Notes on a score paper (in the air)
Thank you.
Wonderful! I love swallows.
I love all bird lovers! <3
😍
Cindy, these swallow pictures are incredible. Thank you! Veraiconica
Hi Veraiconica! It’s wonderful to hear from you and be well my friend~ <3
Dear Cindy, good to hear from you, wishing you a nice weekend! Hugs! Veraiconica
I’m excited. So beautiful!
Very pleased you enjoyed & cheers to you!
Reblogged this on penpowersong.
Hugs and gratitude! Be well my friend~
Love these shots!
Cheers to you Robert & thank you my friend~