swallows

just a couple of photo's of a swallow, enjoying the afternoon sun yesterday. they nested last year in an out building at work, raising 2 broods. hopefully they'll do the same this year

 

Brilliant photos, I've never seen one stand still long enough to take a piccie.

 

Likewise, even with a new camera on tele I couldn't get close.
Blackcaps, Cettis warblers and long tailed tits wouldn't stay still for a pic. :(

 

Could someone explain why it is that parts further north seem to see swallows well before I see them in Kent.
Its usually late May before I see anything that looks remotely like a swallow and they are usually gone by early August.
I should add that I cant tell a swallow from a swift or a house martin.

 

Not that I could ever take such a pic but yours are supurb. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

I'm not sure why either Pete as I heard of swallows in the Midlands before I saw any.
Swift are the last to arrive usually in May but this year some appeared here mid April and they are the first to return to Africa and are gone late August. Martins and swallows stay till mid/ late October so their 'winter break' is only 5 months. We seem to get more red rumped swallows here now which are usually a Med visitor.

 

as you probably saw on last months photo comp, the pair have indeed returned to their old nest and having done a few running repairs, here's the result!



the parents are ever attentive and seem to be catching plenty of bugs to feed their brood. There seems to be 4 chicks and had 1 egg thrown from the nest.

 

pete wrote:

although the birds do all look similar in flight, there are easy tell tale signs that seperate them.

swallows- have long tails, sometimes fanned out in a v shape. they have a more "oil on water" appearance to their feathers, if that makes sense. i'm trying to say they aren't just black and white with a red face!

swifts- usually descibed as sickle shaped. have a dumpy appearance and the wings appear longer than their body. in cities they are the ones that seem to have a mad half hour in an evening,screaming around making as much noise as possible!

martins- we have 2 types,house and sand. sand martins are easy, they are brown!! house martins are the ones usually seen in towns and can normally be identifed as they have a big white rump!

there are others that visit these shores, but they are lost!!!! :D

hope this helps

 

They really are good shots glen.
And thanks for the desciptions, I've never seen one up close enough to tell the colour etc. just the silhouette in the sky, they dont seem to settle much around here.
I have seen a few years ago the swifts screeching and hanging on the house walls, but its not happened since.

 

Great pictures Glen.

Tis often difficult to identify swifts/swallows and martins when they are swooping overhead unless your a birder. When I was in Scotland, I watched some swooping birds, and marked them as swallow - twas nice to have it confirmed on leaving the loo block in the earlymorning - to see one perched on the entrance railing. Stayed there long enough to get a clear identification - but I mean, who takes a camera - the first trip of the day :D :D .

 

Swifts are the easiest as they really are sickle shaped and their wings are longer than their bodies. not nearly as colourful as the other 2. They are outside shrieking now!

 

thanks everyone, woo- the initial photo's were taken at full 12x zoom,with my 1.7x teleconverter and cropped a bit too! the photo of the chicks in the nest is taken pretty close up actually, the parent birds are pretty used to humans so don't seem to put off! the last 2 were taken at full zoom again, but without any cropping.

i'm trying to get a shot of them in flight but they are much faster than my focusing and shutter finger!!

 

Brilliant Photo's Glen

 

fab photos glen