On Sunday, there seemed to be almost no bank swallows at their main colony site. Ordinarily, there would be several dozen flitting around and zipping in and out of their burrows in the cliff.
Fireworks are and have been known to be a danger to the birds.
In the past, the swallows seem to have abandoned their site after such a scare. We don't know if that has happened here, but can't help wonder why so much time and money were put into fencing off ten acres far from the burrows, while known dangers such as firecrackers are not prevented. Also, in the northern area of the beach there are still fenceposts sitting right above the burrows, which have been a convenient spot from which kestrels can swoop in on bank swallow hatchlings. The Park Service claims to have installed chicken wire on these posts to keep these predators away, but it doesn't appear to have been done or maintained in several areas. The National Park Service's credibility is eroded by the lack of attention to two known threats to the birds, while at the same time using unproven claims of a threat from dogs and hikers to discontinue recreational use of park lands.