I’m slow-birding, watching for activity in my favorite bush—a large, spreading red-osier dogwood—when a bright yellow bird lands right in the middle. He moves along the branches, searching for food, and stops every few seconds to sing, “sweet sweet I’m so sweet.” 

Photo by Gary Shackelford

The telltale sign of a Tree Swallow nest is often feathers. In some cases, there are so many feathers, you can’t even see the underlying nest structure of dry grass or pine needles.

Photo by Gary Shackelford