This tower is separated from the main château at Chenonceau as it was constructed in a different era. One of its most interesting details, in my opinion, are the swallows (les hirondelles) that have built nests under the overhang of the top level. They're difficult to see in this first photo, so here is a close up; note that I luckily caught one of these fast flying birds in the lower left corner.
There are zillions of swallows in the area at this time of year. Many home owners find them a nuisance, but I love these birds because, like bats, they consume huge numbers of mosquitoes at dusk.
I like bats for the same reason - good bug catchers. No swallows here, too dry. It's interesting when we drive south in California from San Francisco to LA, at about the middle we start seeing swallows, and soon every freeway overpass is packed with little mud nests. Down where the big canals start supplying the farmland as flooding, where they can get mud and there are more bugs.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I love those "working" animals! And that's interesting about them hanging from freeway overpasses. I hadn't heard about that.
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