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Lunch at the Abbey 5529

Like a queen at her throne, a barn swallow sits on the edge of a drainage conduit at Jerpoint Abbey carrying a meal befitting her little princes and princesses. She and her mate have constructed a nest of mud on the interior abbey walls. Before mankind built structures, barn swallows built their nests in caves, cubbies between rocks, and in crevices between tree branches. There weren’t as many people, and there weren’t as many barn swallows. As mankind became more prolific, we built more structures and barn swallows began using them for their nesting purposes. As a result, barn swallows also became more prolific. It is a symbiosis that has worked well for these birds, as well as humans, since these birds devour hordes of insects, considered to be human pests. Lunch at the abbey doesn’t appear all that appetizing to me, but to a barn swallow it’s a banquet. #BarnSwallows

 

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Uploaded on August 9, 2016
Taken on July 30, 2016