Swallows' roosting

Now that it's nearly mid-September, at last temperatures dropped to less than 35C

and the mornings and evenings are much cooler.

Scorching, sizzling, and sweltering summer is my country's usual, but it has gotten

more and more overwhelmingly powerful.

While white towering cumulus clouds and blue skies are refreshing symbol of summer,

big, dark, unnerving clumulonimbus clouds were seen almost every day

and poured warning level rain.

About two weeks ago, I was at the north-west of the Nara Palace Site Historical Park

 to see swallows' roosting.

Swallows land in the reeds beyond the summer grasses and flowers in the photo below.

While the western sky was covered with thunder clouds, the north-west sky was

still bright in the glow of the setting sun.

Some birds appeared like a prelude from the east, the direction of the Daigokuden Hall.

It took a while until swarms of swallows appeared above my head.

Roosting can be observed about 20 minutes around the sunset.

Their swirling is quite a spectacle.

I was marvelled at how swallows could fly, dive, and veer at such high speed 

without crashing into each other.

They nosedived to barely above the reeds only to turn sharply upward

 before gradual landing in to the reeds.

They are too swift to capture especially in that low light.

When the spectacle is over, darkness is already fallen.

Swallows are in reed-beds.

(Image source; here by the Wild Bird Society of Japan.)

Funny but somehow the sight reminded me of the huge wave of pedestrians flooding into

the Shibuya Scramble Crossing for a minute, the world's busiest pedestrian crossing.

The ancient Palace Site of Nara is one of the largest resting sites for swallows in Japan.

Up to 60,000 of swarrows can be seen during the peak period in August through September.

Swallows make their nests in the eaves of houses and grow their chicks in spring.

In summer, after finishing raising their children, they pass the night together 

in reed fields until at last they depart for south.

Memories of summer; glamping, concerts, cooking, arts and crafts, fireworks, etc.

Linked to Mosaic Monday