Delta Journal
by Bob Thomas

October and November are tornado season in south Louisiana. No, not destructive winds, but swirling funnels of tree swallows.

As many bird species, tree swallows stack up along the coast during the winter. By day, they spread out to pursue their acrobatic feeding.

As evening approaches, they slowly return to specific gathering spots. One such easily accessed place for interested birders is the levee near the Sixth Ward Elementary School just upriver from the base of the Veteran Memorial Bridge on LA 18 (River Road) in Vacherie.

If one arrives an hour before darkness, it is hard to find a tree swallow on the wing. As time passes, there will be a few, then many, then hundreds and thousands. Facing the sugarcane fields, you will marvel at the ever expanding number of birds in view as they swirl and circle, dive and climb in an ever condensing flock.

Just between sunset and dusk, as if the circus whistle was blown, a funnel begins to drop from the bottom of the cloud of swallows. It continues to descend to the top of the sugarcane as swallows quickly fly into their evening roost amonst the tall grasses. Due to the massive numbers of swallows being deposited, the funnel moves about filling up the roosting area. It is amazing how it swings about.

As the last swallows find their roosts, the funnel empties into the habitat and suddenly, there are no swallows in sight.

This amazing display has occurred in America’s WETLAND for ages. It is truly one of coastal Louisiana’s most marvelous spetacles.