Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, there is a walking bridge across the James River. The cliff swallows have taken residence in the tall concrete columns. Attaching their mud nests to the ceiling, they lay their eggs and hatch out their young as people come and go below.

Red mud nests hold young

Voracious appetites keep

Cliff Swallows feeding

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Frank Tassone’s Haikai challenge for today is to include the Swallow. We saw these amazing birds feeding as we walked across the James River one Mother’s Day. Somehow it seemed appropriate to be watching mother feeding their babies high overhead.

Come join us at: https://frankjtassone.com/2019/03/23/haikai-challenge-78-3-23-19-swallow-tsubame-haiku-senryu-haibun-tanka-haiga-renga/

If you are over sixty, you might remember Pat Boone’s song: “When the swallows come back to Capistrano…” !