Tree Swallow guarding a nest, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa
I have many photos of Tree Swallows in my picture library, all shot during the last ten years along the Mississippi River. Tree Swallows on branches, on wires, or on the ground but the one that really tells the story about this bird was missing. A picture of the swallow guarding its nest in a tree cavity. Last weekend during one of our paddle tours in the Green Island Wetlands we came across this swallow at the nest in a dead tree. It was not too high above the water and the bird accepted my presence in the kayak below.
I really wonder how long a photo like this will be possible at Green Island in the near future. Tree Swallows need dead trees for their nest and there are probably thousands of dead trees at the moment. The problem is that they all die at the same time and fall apart very quickly. This is probably due to the high water levels we saw in the last few years. New growth does simply not happen. I visit the Green Island Wetlands, that are separated from the Mississippi by dikes, since more than nine years very regularly. Many groves have recently already vanished or are about to. The loss of biodiversity is easy to see. Species that thrive in dead woods and need them for nesting, like woodpeckers, wood ducks, or tree swallows benefit right now, but probably not for long. Others, who breed high up in the canopy of the trees, have already lost their habitat.