It was a dark and stormy night (seriously, it was) – bolts of lighting and peals of deafening thunder rent the evening air. We’d battened down, lowered the mains’il, had up a storm jib and were trailing chains aft as lightning conductors. We just rounded Cabo Corrientes and were heading up the Yucatan channel. It was a grisly night to be out at sea. Unexpectedly out of this hellish chasm came two visitors; a pair of small chattering barn swallows. They appeared exhausted and fluttered onto the aft deck unfazed by the workings of sheets and backstays. The wheelhouse door was open and the sheltered interior beckoned – in unison they flew up and spied a soft and inviting roosting spot …….
They were heading south for warmer climes to escape the northern hemisphere winter. After taking shelter for the night while the storm raged, they set off again on their long journey as dawn broke…
Isn’t it quite extraordinary how many miles birds cover migrating between the seasons? Take the tiny Arctic tern’s epic journey between the two poles, clocking up 70,000 kilometers on a round trip. Since the birds live for 30 years or more, they can total up a tidy 1.5 million frequent flyer miles.
On that note, they get my vote for outstanding “Endurance” in this week’s Photo Challenge.
Nature on the Edge 
Now this is a winner for endurance! And the last photo is absolutely stunning. Not sure how I ‘d feel about a bird roosting on my head, but it’s certainly a unique form of headgear 😉
What a great example of endurance!
Fantastic and fun!
astounding! a beautiful warm hairy nest! I <3!
Very creative interpretation of this week’s challenge. Birds clocking up millions of frequent flyer miles? That’s a very clever way of describing endurance. It’s funny how birds can fly for miles and miles and hours and hours and don’t seem tired. Amazing 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Mabel and for your comments. Isn’t it remarkable that they such a built in endurance factor, but from what i’ve been reading they head for land on their migratory routes to stop, rest and feed. 🙂
Enjoyed the details accompanying the photographs as much as the scenes themselves! How could you ever shoo away such adorable nesters?
Thanks Jann! Incidentally the pair were gently moved to a box with soft tissue paper, and they happily settled down for the night and off they went in the morning 🙂
What a sweet ending. What a sweet photo that would be too, if you have one.
How wonderful, you arrived at the right time to give two little exhausted ones shelter! What a lovely experience in a horrible night out at sea.
Great choice for the theme, Liz. Well done.
Thanks, Dina 🙂
OK, that would gross me out, sorry!!! But good for you for being ready w the camera 🙂
Hi Tina, it was a strange night… charged with the electrical storm. We soon enough placed the birds in a tissue lined box!