James:  "Before we start our walk, you need to take notice of all the swallows on Ellen's power lines.  How many are there, and how would you count them?"

Tim:  "One, two, three ... twenty.  There's 20 birds in that space, so there's probably 200 between these two power poles."

Philip:  "The power poles are 300 feet apart."

Mac:  "That's about right.  They look about a football field apart."

Tim:  "That's a longer football field than what I used to run up and down on.  Distances are getting longer as I get older."

Ellen:  "There's a bird every six inches.  That would make maybe 150."

Mac:  "How many sections of power poles are they occupying?"

James:  "Maybe six.  There must be over 1,000 swallows, but it looks like 2,000."

Philip:  "Every morning when I come out they all have their backs toward the sun.  When Ellen leaves about 9:30 they've all turned around, and have their breasts toward the sun."

James:  "Aaron used to live and work over at the Sexton Place.  When he went out one morning there were seven golden eagles on fence posts lining the road.  They all had their wings outstretched warming themselves in the sun."

Tim:  "I saw a big bunch of vultures that way once, but it was foggy.  They were all perched there with their wings out.  They're ugly birds."

Ellen:  "Do you remember the story Janet McCornack told us about Grandfather McCornack?  He got tired while raking hay, so he laid down on the ground and took a nap.  When he awoke and looked up, there was a bunch of vultures circling overhead."

James:  "In the field below the Brazofsky house, I once saw two dozen bald eagles in a circle about 75 feet in diameter.  There were dark-headed juveniles and white-headed adults.  They were all facing inward.  I imagined that they were having a meeting to decide which sector of the valley each was going to work that day."

Mac:  "Are these swallows getting ready to leave?  Being gathered together like this makes it look like fall."

James:  "One morning, years ago, when I came down the road to milk my cow at the calving barn, I noticed all the swallows lined up on the power lines like this; and while I was milking, a signal went through the flock, and they all rose into the air, and they were gone on their migration.  How do you suppose they communicated that to let everyone know that it was time to go?"

Mac:  "What day was it?"

James:  "That was the first week of September, but last year most of them left toward the end of August."

Tim:  "Well, that's a lot of swallows.  Where have they been?  I don't remember seeing that many swallows around the hay barn this year."

James:  "They have two broods per year, so most of what we see were probably hatched this year."

Tim:  "We only had a few hummingbirds at our feeder this year, but now there's a dozen or more.  Debbie Griffith sent us a hummingbird swing, and they use it!!  Jan sure enjoys her hummingbirds."

Mac:  "When we had a hummingbird feeder they swarmed all around it.  I'd go outside, hold my finger out, and they'd perch on it!"

James:  "I once did a job for Gary Dielman, and he had to take me out into his garage to show me his hummingbird nest.  It was on a rope or a wire up above our heads.  It was the tiniest little thing, and had the tiniest eggs in it."

Ellen:  "They nest in our walnut tree.  I've found their little nests on the ground after a big wind."