It had been pretty quiet on the marsh ponds: we arrived just before sunrise and hadn’t seen much activity even an hour later. The Swallows started to come in small groups, flying over our heads from the tidal side of the trail into the grass on the far side of this pond.

As if on a signal they started stirring up the water, flapping and swooping. It was too far to tell if they were bathing or trying to catch insects, or maybe both.

This went on for at least a half hour with more birds joining in and others leaving.

I didn’t see where they went, but when it was over the pond became still again, with a couple of Great Egrets dropping in to check the far shore.

Click any photo for larger view.