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"Wednesday evening [last week] we took a dinner cruise on the
Star of Knoxville riverboat," emailed Lynne and Bob Davis.
"It was a perfect evening for standing by
the rail and watching the world go by. We saw the osprey nest at the
downstream end of Looney Island, with an adult
and two nearly-grown nestlings. Also the usual river birds: great blue herons, cormorants, Canada geese, mallards, kingfishers.
"The most interesting thing came as the boat
approached the dock. We were standing at the bow, near the long
boarding ramp. This ramp is only used if the boat stops at a place
where there is no dock, and the rest of the time, it is just
suspended above the water."
"Passing under the Gay Street Bridge, we were suddenly welcomed by a flock of at least two dozen barn swallows, swooping and chittering around the bow. We first thought they were looking for insects on the water, but then realized they were landing on the underside of the boarding ramp. They were answered by more chittering from under the ramp. We could not confirm that there were nests under the ramp, but it seemed likely. What must they think when their homes leave and come back several times a day?"
"Passing under the Gay Street Bridge, we were suddenly welcomed by a flock of at least two dozen barn swallows, swooping and chittering around the bow. We first thought they were looking for insects on the water, but then realized they were landing on the underside of the boarding ramp. They were answered by more chittering from under the ramp. We could not confirm that there were nests under the ramp, but it seemed likely. What must they think when their homes leave and come back several times a day?"
Thanks, Lynne and Bob
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