Barn Swallow dawn departure

This morning I watched the Barn Swallows leave their overnight roost in a cornfield. At 6:25 a.m. the eastern sky (from where I stood) was filled with rising, chattering birds, but by 6:40 most of them had disappeared, although I could still hear many that I could not see against the dark sky. There must have been several hundred thousand, and if you click on this image you might be able to see some of the specks. Anyway, it was a glorious morning, with Venus rising above the Cascade Mts. on the horizon. And now I'm off to Asia for three weeks.