This cache was previously part of a series in the summer of
2011. The series has been dismantled, so please ignore codes on the
lid of the container and any mention of 'crystal skulls'.
This is a 2-stage multicache that ends at a very large
container. There are plenty of items in the container but none that
would interest children. This should be a tick-free walk but be
very careful retrieving stage 1 as it is near thorns (6m accuracy).
There is enough distance between the stages that you will probably
want to drive from one to the other.
The name of this cache comes from the two birds that you are
very likely to see on approach to the final: barn swallows and
eastern bluebirds. On three different occasions that I visited, a
flock of about a dozen barn swallows kept close watch from the
power line. More impressively, there is a large and easily
noticeable dead tree on the left hand side of the road as you
approach the final stage. Every time I visited, there were
bluebirds perching in this tree. However, they were actually very
slate-colored as opposed to grey, so they must be immatures that
have not developed their vibrant plummage.
This actually makes the bluebirds and barn swallows very
difficult to tell apart from a distance in low light or when
silhouetted in bright sunlight, since they both have an orangish
breast, and fly in a somewhat similar pattern chasing bugs. Be sure
to bring a pair of binoculars, and you may want to visit
this link to hear a bluebird call and be able to identify them
audibly from a distance, particularly if you visit in the early
morning.
