The swallows are on their way here. They arrive each year to the area around the San Juan Capistrano Mission on March 19, which is St. Joseph’s Day. Before their arrival, the scout comes to look around. Then he flies back and guides the flock here. In thirty days, they’ll fly approximately 7500 miles from Goya, Argentina, where they stay for the winter.
In the old days, there were hundreds of swallows that came to the mission. Now, the construction and building of San Juan Capistrano, which has led to less food, has driven them out to the surrounding areas. Last year, I found about fifty of them nesting under a cement canal bridge, the rainwater running toward the Pacific Ocean beneath them. I was riding my one speed Schwinn (with wicker basket on the handle bars) from Doheny Beach on that trail that runs alongside the canals when I heard them.
People say the swallows return to the same spot each year. I’ll give them a week to get settled, and then I’ll ride by again so I can see them.
There’s something about the fact that they always return. I can count on them being here. Same as before.
In the old days, there were hundreds of swallows that came to the mission. Now, the construction and building of San Juan Capistrano, which has led to less food, has driven them out to the surrounding areas. Last year, I found about fifty of them nesting under a cement canal bridge, the rainwater running toward the Pacific Ocean beneath them. I was riding my one speed Schwinn (with wicker basket on the handle bars) from Doheny Beach on that trail that runs alongside the canals when I heard them.
People say the swallows return to the same spot each year. I’ll give them a week to get settled, and then I’ll ride by again so I can see them.
There’s something about the fact that they always return. I can count on them being here. Same as before.
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