They were here because their nest building material (mud) was readily available. The volcanic ash cliffs actually soaked up water several feet and had a dark wet rim around the bottom, as seen here. The swallows are all flapping their wings because they don't have enough body mass to drive their beaks into the packed ash. They have to "fly" into it.

I decided to shut off the motor and drift back (partly because I was really low on gas). Mule deer, coyotes, etc., would suddenly stand up and watch me drift past at 2-4 knots.

Several miles past the cliffs, the terrain has opened up, but the river starts to get standing waves. This is Coyote Rapids. Ehh.

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They were here because their nest building material (mud) was readily available. The volcanic ash cliffs actually soaked up water several feet and had a dark wet rim around the bottom, as seen here. The swallows are all flapping their wings because they don't have enough body mass to drive their beaks into the packed ash. They have to "fly" into it.

There were more cliff swallows here than on the basalt cliffs. Huge colonies that would swarm out like bees.

It's hard to get a feel for the size of the cliffs from a picture. The trees at the base are 20 to 30 foot cottonwoods.

The cliffs go on for several miles.

M

They were here because their nest building material (mud) was readily available. The volcanic ash cliffs actually soaked up water several feet and had a dark wet rim around the bottom, as seen here. The swallows are all flapping their wings because they don't have enough body mass to drive their beaks into the packed ash. They have to "fly" into it.

Marco Flamingo
Apr 23, 2016

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