A Little from the Life of Bank Swallows

As part of the UIRS work (student research project) of two second-year students, Olha Chaiuk and Viktoriia Shulik, we photographed and filmed the bank swallow colony on the bank of the Siverskyi Donets together with them. Although the quality of many photographs makes it clear that they were taken at the camera's maximum zoom, I think some of them are of interest. The colony is quite large and stretches along the steep sections on both banks of the river. [IMG_1] [IMG_2] At times people passing by move directly above the colony. [IMG_3] The colony consists of many burrows. In many of them the chicks have already hatched and wait for their parents right at the entrance. [IMG_4] Do you see the burrow where two chicks are pressed against each other? [IMG_5] The parents not only bring food to the chicks, but also try to protect them from various minor troubles (the video was shot in eightfold slow motion). [IMG_6] When, in the swallows' view, something threatens the chicks, they gather in large groups and swarm around the entrances to the burrows. [IMG_7] Depending on how the swallows assess the situation, they either fly away from the burrows, dart back and forth, or gather in whole clouds. [IMG_8] [IMG_9] [IMG_10] And here is the real danger. An American mink is climbing through the colony, taking the chicks. The swallows fly around it and try to scare it off, but they cannot really stop the mink. These and the following photos with the mink were taken by Viktoriia Shulik (using my camera). Here the mink is climbing, pulling a chick out of the burrow... [IMG_11] ...carrying the chick away... [IMG_12] [IMG_13] ...and leaving with its prey. [IMG_14] With time the colony's life will return to its usual course. [IMG_15]