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Birds, Insects & Bats in flight (outdoors) Page 68
Image Taken on 07 Jun 2011
at 16:01 Image of day on 16 Jul 2011
Swifts are the most regular fly catching bird at the moment -
here a portrait with the wings catching the light nicely.
Ref: 20110716_df1_20110607_1601_142 swift in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 08 Jun 2011
at 13:14 Image of day on 16 Jul 2011
And here a more conventional view showing the sickle shaped wings.
Ref: 20110716_df1_20110608_1314_123 swift in flight(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 31 May 2010
at 16:03 Image of day on 08 Jul 2010
BBC Springwatch tells us all flycatchers are late this year.
For us the number of Swifts has soared and the usual
good show of Swallows plus the odd Martin has reduced to
the odd flyover. So we make the most of the Swifts this year.
Ref: 20100708_df1_20100531_1603_035 swift in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 11 May 2010
at 16:57 Image of day on 14 Jun 2010
The swifts are outnumbering the swallows this year. This shot
shows the interesting stepped grey of the under-feather markings
and the wonderful long primary feathers.
Ref: 20100614_df1_20100511_1657_589 swift in flight (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 14 Jun 2008
at 12:58 Image of day on 25 Jun 2008
Swifts and swallows are making intermittent appearances.
Ref: 20080625_dc1_20080614_1258_192 swift in flight (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 06 Jul 2006
at 17:56 Image of day on 19 Jul 2006
Photographing birds in flight is hard, and flycatchers doubly so.
So getting even a half-decent image is a minor triumph.
Ref: 20060719_d60_20060706_1756_632 swift in flight (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Jun 2006
at 16:28 Image of day on 13 Jun 2006
This year not many Swallows but a few swifts of which this one
is an example. The BBC Springwatch website and paperwork
packs include Swallows, Swifts and House Martins from our portfolio.
Ref: 20060613_d10_20060605_1628_486 swift in flight(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 02 Jul 2016
at 17:50 Image of day on 17 Aug 2016
Alarmingly few Swifts, Swallows and Martin so far this year.
Here is a passing Swift.
Ref: 20160817_df3_20160702_1750_054-065 swift in flight (selected) 1-5 of 5 (close spaced montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Aug 2015
at 15:16 Image of day on 27 Oct 2015
A Swift in flight climbing gracefully.
Ref: 20151027_df4_20150826_1516_092-097 swift in flight 1-6 of 6 (close montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Jul 2019
at 17:47 Image of day on 09 Sep 2019
More Swifts (again shown with the 10 body length between images reduced to very
little) showing the variety of wing positions in normal flight. These images are
about 0.2 seconds apart
Ref: 20190909_df3_20190722_1747_054-059 swift in flight @ about 5 fps 1-6 of 6 (close spaced montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 06 Jul 2021
at 17:40 Image of day on 11 Aug 2021
A Swift flying by.
Ref: 20210811_d73_20210706_1740_237 swift in flight @10fps 02 of 23 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Jul 2019
at 17:31 Image of day on 06 Sep 2019
A close spaced montage at about 10 fps.
Ref: 20190906_d72_20190717_1731_355-358 swift in flight @10fps 1-4 of 5 (close spaced montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 06 Jul 2021
at 17:40 Image of day on 11 Aug 2021
An accurately positioned montage of a Swift in flight at 10 frames per second.
Ref: 20210811_d73_20210706_1740_245-249 swift in flight @10fps 10-14 of 23 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Jul 2019
at 12:23 Image of day on 09 Sep 2019
Swifts fly fast - this montage is accurately spaced (based on the tree)
at about 0.1 second intervals.
Ref: 20190909_d72_20190722_1223_021-024 swift in flight @10fps 3-6 of 6 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 31 May 2010
at 16:05 Image of day on 08 Jul 2010
We are trying to catch the moment of an insect about to go into
a flycatchers beak. During this attempt we got this unusual
sequence of what we think is a swallow reaching way up
to catch an insect. Probably about 200mS between images
with arbitrary positions.
We guess that the insect was hidden by the right wing of the first image,
and inside the beak by the second!
Ref: 20100708_df1_20100531_1605_088-090 swift in flight arching back & opening beak to catch insect (q) 1-3 of 3 (arbitrary montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 18 Jul 2019
at 11:50 Image of day on 06 Sep 2019
Swifts really fly fast - this and the next sequence are photographed at about
10 fps (Frames per second). That's about 100 body lengths per second!
The detail of the bird is lost at any size of image that it is sensible to email
or put on the WWW, which is why we mostly provide 'Close spaced Montages' to get
a better view of the creature.
Ref: 20190906_d72_20190718_1150_067-072 swift in flight at 10fps against trees 1-6 of 6 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 22 Jun 2011
at 13:37 Image of day on 29 Jul 2011
Swifts are normally photographed as sickle shapes, but they
have a full range of wing movements, here caught near the top
of its wing stroke.
Ref: 20110729_df1_20110622_1337_290 swift in flight at top of wing stroke(r+mb id@432).jpg
Image Taken on 06 Jul 2021
at 17:41 Image of day on 11 Aug 2021
The bland sky prevents any attempt at 'accurately positioned', so here more closely
spaced than natural for a better look at the bird.
Ref: 20210811_d73_20210706_1741_342-345 swift in flight banking toward camera @10fps 1-4 of 4 (impression montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 05 May 2017
at 17:52 Image of day on 27 Jun 2017
A Swift catching an insect - beak open next to last image from the left and the
tiny speck of life it consumed is just in front of the open beak.
These at about 7fps so slightly less than 1 second of action here.
Ref: 20170627_df3_20170505_1752_159-164 swift in flight catching insect 2-7 of 7 (impression montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 04 May 2010
at 15:11 Image of day on 10 Jun 2010
The swifts have been mostly flying very high but have
occasionally come low enough to be much better than 'specks in
the sky'. With naked eye they tend to appear as black silhouettes
but a camera with exposure locked to prevent the sky forcing
underexposure it can show the subtle grey markings.
Ref: 20100610_df1_20100504_1511_119 swift in flight overhead (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
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