The swallows were restless and numerous. At first, I only guessed that they were swallows; nevertheless, I was not sure. I confirmed by asking others. They were flying very fast and performing acrobatic maneuvers. When not flying, they perched on the tops of plants, long and stick-like in shape. While flying, they came close to the surface of the water at certain points, but they did not seem to touch the ground either way. When I searched for the main diet of swallows, I learned that they mostly eat flying insects, such as mosquitoes. Not surprisingly, the Çukurova region has tended to be a “mosquito-friendly wetland environment,” aimed to become a post-eucalyptus1 environment throughout the years.2

The fact that swallows prefer warm and wet areas calls for questioning the thermal qualities of the wetland zone. While the presence of still water is more prominent than the thermal features of a wetland, we see that mosquitoes gather not only in still water but also in warm settings, which swallows likely enjoyed very much. Thinking about this wet zone through swallows could reveal the wetland’s thermal facet.

The first photograph below shows that it was a sunny day. However, this alone might not be enough to fully conceive the thermal qualities of the environment. The heat was also evidently present.