{"id":428,"date":"2015-02-20T11:57:24","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T11:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/?p=428"},"modified":"2015-07-13T07:44:10","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T07:44:10","slug":"sundowners-with-the-barn-swallows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/20\/sundowners-with-the-barn-swallows\/","title":{"rendered":"Sundowners with the Barn Swallows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Between October and March, a gorgeous spectacle happens in KZN: thousands of barn swallows<\/a> swooping and feasting at sunset. Here\u2019s what it\u2019s like to view their murmurations from\u00a0Mount Moreland<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe swallows like to have a perpetual summer and they\u2019re here in Mount Moreland during our summer months. Every evening is different as they put on their show in the skies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Angie Wilken is the visionary behind the barn swallow viewing site in KZN\u2019s Mount Moreland<\/strong> \u2013 a small residential area inside a conservancy, north of Durban. We joined her and a gathering of like-minded, chilled out folk and made ourselves comfortable at the well-kept, terraced, grassy viewing site just before sunset.<\/p>\n

\"Sundowners
\nArmed with camping chairs, sundowner drinks and binoculars, we relaxed in the most beautiful, peaceful setting with views of the farmlands, marshes and sugar cane fields spilling out in front of us. Angie opens the site to the public at around 17:30 daily in the summer months, and viewers wanting to enjoy the spectacle trickle down slowly, setting up picnic blankets, chairs and sundowner snacks. We joined the tranquil setting on a Saturday evening and the winged European holiday-makers came out in their numbers to entertain us.<\/p>\n

\"Relaxation
\nThese barn swallows chase summer all year round, and we are just a tad jealous of the pretty birds\u2019 lifestyle. They choose the marshland area just below Mount Moreland as their favourite South African holiday destination, soaking up the last of the day\u2019s rays and munching on insects in the skies, before heading to bed in the reeds below.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The barn swallows show<\/h3>\n

The evening we visited, we sat admiring the landscape and feeling the anticipation growing amongst the seasoned barn swallow watchers around us. As part of the first timers there we didn\u2019t know what to expect. The sun was making its way to bed, dropping beyond the hill in the direction of Verulam and the skies were quiet and clear. Suddenly, completely without warning, a flock of swallows swooped in, dotting the skies and making us all drop our drinks and grasp for the binoculars. It was around 18:40 and they had arrived. Angie went around from group to group announcing them and offering the use of her binoculars for those without who wanted to keep sentry.<\/p>\n

\"Angie
\nJust as suddenly as those first few had arrived, the masses made their entry. There were thousands of them, swooping, fast and dark against the orange sunset backdrop. It was incredible to watch, with or without binoculars. They speckled the heavens in a happy, frantic swarm as they ate their dinner above the marshes and readied themselves for bed.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nAngie told us that they breed in Europe when they are there for the Northern Hemisphere summertime but they holiday here in South Africa. They\u2019ve clearly got their priorities spot on. They don\u2019t build nests here in SA as they don\u2019t need to house any eggs or chicks, so they simply snuggle down and sleep on the reeds in the Mount Moreland marshlands. We could hear them chattering and tweeting in their multitudes \u2013 a lovely sound. Angie said, \u201cwe call this \u2018Bedtime Stories Time\u2019 as they tweet while they settle to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dotting
\nAfter a good half-hour of show time, the sun disappeared and the skies were clear and quiet again, all swallows hidden from our sight, as if they had never been there at all. It had been a very special natural show to witness and a sundowner session we\u2019ll be back for again.Angie updates the Barn Swallows website<\/a> daily, about the sightings. After our evening\u2019s viewing she wrote, \u201ca thrilling experience for many spectators that came to see the evening display, and many commented that it was the best display they had ever seen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Information<\/p>\n

Need to Know:<\/h3>\n

The barn swallows visit Mount Moreland from late October to March each year. Keep an eye on the website<\/a> for the best viewing times and other info.<\/p>\n

Price:<\/strong> There\u2019s a R10 conservation and entrance per to visitor.
\nContact:<\/strong> angie@barnswallow.co.za<\/a>, www.barnswallow.co.za<\/a>
\nDirections:<\/strong> 31\u00b005.2E 29\u00b038.7S<\/a> \u2013 At the Umdloti\/Verulam N2 off ramp, turn towards Verulam. Go under 1km and turn right at the white pillar marked \u2018Umdloti Estate, Mount Moreland.\u2019 Follow the road and the signs to Mount Moreland \/ Swallow View site.<\/p>\n

Originally published on the Getaway Blog<\/a> ,\u00a0\u00a016 February, 2015<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Between October and March, a gorgeous spectacle happens in KZN: thousands of barn swallows swooping and feasting at sunset. Here\u2019s what it\u2019s like to view their murmurations from\u00a0Mount Moreland. \u201cThe swallows like to have a perpetual summer and they\u2019re here…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,5,7,8,12],"tags":[23,24,30,54,67,70,82,83,102,118,131,155],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":618,"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions\/618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bushbabyblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}