Bank Swallows!

Yesterday, while on serious business at the Marblehead quarry, we enjoyed the high-flying antics of a population of  Bank Swallows.

Bank Swallow,  Riparia riparia

Although these dapper fellows wear a "bow-tie" (look for the diagnostic brown breast-band) you'll not find them on Wall Street.  Their Latin name gives a hint to their preferred habitat: riparian corridors.

 Bank swallows build their nests inside the banks along rivers, but some have adapted to nesting in sand and slag piles in quarries- like the one in this photo.

A closer view of the bank reveals results of a colony of hole dwellers, the look of Swiss cheese. The Bank Swallows were swarming in and out of these nest sites, but  they were far too fast for my amateur photographic skills.

 As one rests in a nearby tree, several hawk for insects in the background of the photo.

There could hardly be a more handsome swallow.  It was a delightful side attraction at a sight better known for some of the rarest botany in Ohio and in all of the United States.   This quarry is also the home of the famous Lakeside Daisy.  More on that topic to come...