My dog Stella loves to chase birds. She has chased Canada geese through a nearby pond, seagulls on the beach of Lake Superior (a particular favorite) and she aspires to chase my neighbor’s chickens. She also chases swallows. Swallows are the outlier in that group–the others spend at least some observable time on the ground, making them easy to chase for a land-based bird enthusiast like Stella.
Her swallow chasing is limited to mornings at the neighborhood park when the insects are plentiful, hovering above the grass on the playing fields. The swallows swoop and swirl to catch breakfast. On these days, Stella strains at her leash and looks at me, and I usually relent and let her go. She gets into a low crouch like a sprinter and dashes off after the nearest swallow–she can cut and turn as well as an any offensive end–pulling tight ovals or lazy S’s around the field. The swallows may enjoy it–they seem to watch her and let her get almost close enough and then they pull the stick and UP UP they go, leveling off into another oval loop-de-loop around the park.
Swimming in the Slipstream 