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Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Birds - Swallow Page 1
Image of day on 27 Aug 2007
A 4 frame animation of an adult swallow delivering beakful of
insects to a youngster waiting on our mains wires. The whole
sequence took less than 0.5secs in real time - no wonder it all
seem over in a moment. (1) Parent approaching
(2) Delivery (3) Departure (4) Chick demands more NOW
but that was all. Some of the feed hanging out of it's beak.
Ref: 20070827_swallow_feed_20070731_410.gif
Image of day on 25 Aug 2005
A chance pairing of a slow soaring Buzzard and nimble
swallow. Scales must be approximately right for them
both to be in reasonable focus
.jpg)
Ref: 20050825_d60_05039 buzzard & swallow 2005aug20_14-47-12(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 11 Aug 2006
at 12:15 Image of day on 20 Aug 2006
The swallows have returned to feeding over our own and the
surrounding fields. Now the youngsters have gained some skill in
the air they chase after the parents and sometimes get fed on-the-wing.
They ascend together and transfer the insects near the top of the
sweep - the moment shown here. Its all over in an instant and
very hard to film or photograph.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20060820_d10_20060811_1215_025 parent feeding young swallow in flight (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 11 Dec 2009
at 14:06 Image of day on 05 Jan 2010
Fieldfare flocks always seem to contain a few Redwing and this year was no
exception. This is the Redwing (red wing not showing particularly well but
the facial & breast markings are distinctive) Both birds
generally 'toss' the berry back into their throats rather than
manoeuvring it with the tongue.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20100105_d01_20091211_1406_432 redwing tossing hawthorn berry into throat to swallow 06 of 10 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image of day on 27 Jun 2005
This adult swallow in flight caught the insect at the upper
right and went back to the chick to feed it.
.jpg)
Ref: 20050627_p20_1020337 swallow about to catch visible insect while young swallow waits on wire 2005jun19_12-32-42(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Aug 2008
at 11:51 Image of day on 03 Sep 2008
The swallows continue to delight, and this pair of consecutive
images at the start of a session show you top and bottom of
the bird.
.jpg)
Ref: 20080903_dc1_20080817_1151_001 swallow about to swoop down from wire(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 02 May 2009
at 16:43 Image of day on 24 May 2009
The swallows are definitely back in pristine breeding condition.
.jpg)
Ref: 20090524_db1_20090502_1643_092 swallow adult with long tail streamers perched on wire(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 01 Jun 2009
at 18:23 Image of day on 03 Jul 2009
It always seems strange to see the moon in sunshine, but here
we caught a swallow flying by it. The bird is a little off focus
because it isn't 'quite' as far away as the moon (maybe 50 metres against
384,403,000 metres!). Other attempts with the bird sharp but the moon
even slightly blurred look awful.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20090703_db1_20090601_1823_337 swallow and gibbous moon (single frame)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 28 Jun 2008
at 15:59 Image of day on 18 Jul 2008
Chance juxtaposition. They basically ignored each other. We
weren't going to include this one on this site, but
got a request from one of our e-mail group for the original to
print and frame, so it obviously has appeal!
.jpg)
Ref: 20080718_dc1_20080628_1559_251 swallow and kestrel male in same frame ignoring each other(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 03 Sep 2010
at 16:34 Image of day on 20 Oct 2010
The excitement of what the bird hopes is a parent arriving with food.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20101020_df1_20100903_1634_466 swallow begging on wire but disappointed (crop)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Apr 2006
at 16:43 Image of day on 26 Apr 2006
Swallows collect water by touching the surface of pond in flight.
A thrill to see but so hard to photograph!
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20060426_d12_20060417_1643_673 swallow dipping into duck pond (crop & proc)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Aug 2008
at 14:59 Image of day on 30 Aug 2008
To our relief the swallows have suddenly re-appeared complete
with families to feed. The lighting wasn't too good but we had a go anyway.
In a montage from last year they are seen feeding on the wing:-
This year first effort is easier to see yourself - look for this
wherever you see young swallows perched on wire, gutters, TV aerials etc.
If you would like a large version as a
September 2008 Calendar click on
Woodland Trust Calendars
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20080830_da1_20080815_1459_035 swallow failing to feed young on wires 2 of 4 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 29 Aug 2007
at 13:38 Image of day on 24 Sep 2007
A new 'late' family feeding on the wires. Hope they can feed up
enough before migration.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20070924_d01_20070829_1338_037 swallow feeding juvenile on wires 3 of 4 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image of day on 22 Aug 2006
This montage of two images taken late morning 14 Aug 2003 shows
another image of swallows feeding in flight. The camera takes
just over 3 frames/sec so these are about .3 second apart (left
to right).
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20060822_d10_00699+00700 swallow feeding young in flight (processed montage about 300ms apart)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Sep 2007
at 17:41 Image of day on 30 Sep 2007
Montage of about .75 seconds of a swallow passing food to it's
chick.
.jpg)
Ref: 20070930_d01_20070904_1741_050_to_54 swallow feeding young in flight montage of 1 to 5 of 5(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image of day on 17 Aug 2005
Adult Swallows can feed their youngster in mid-air in a wonderful
show of aerobatics. This is the 'best-so-far' image we have of this event
.jpg)
Ref: 20050817_d60_03965 swallow feeding young on the wing 2005aug10_11-54-34(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 30 Jul 2009
at 14:44 Image of day on 06 Sep 2009
Another family of swallows visited for one day. The young were
not as advanced as the previous family because the chicks took
all their food while waiting on the wires. The parent rarely land
- just passing the insects as they almost hover and flying on to
catch more.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20090906_db1_20090730_1444_109 swallow feeding young on wires 3 of 4 (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 30 Jul 2009
at 14:43 Image of day on 19 Sep 2009
Following yesterdays single bird take off, this is a typical
sight of young swallows being fed on wires without the parent
landing. This is an 'effect' montage - the perched bird is
obviously stationary! The insect you see in the last two appeared
only at that moment, and flew off - a lucky escape for whatever
it is.
As the chicks get stronger they start feeding themselves and
taking food from parents 'on the wing'. For a view of this from August 2007
click here to pop-up a separate window or tab.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20090919_db1_20090730_1443_096-100 swallow feeding young on wires with insect escaping 2-6 of 6 (levelled & mirrored montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 03 Sep 2010
at 12:18 Image of day on 24 Oct 2010
Adult swallows sometimes feed their youngster on the wing.
They generally rise up facing each other to get the appropriate
beak alignment for just a moment.
 2 of 2 (crop @432)(r+mb id@432).jpg)
Ref: 20101024_df1_20100903_1218_031 swallow feeding youngster in flight (selected frames) 2 of 2 (crop @432)(r+mb id@432).jpg
Image Taken on 03 Sep 2010
at 16:39 Image of day on 23 Oct 2010
And now the adult reversing out to fly off leaving the juveniles
beak now similarly filled.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20101023_df1_20100903_1639_525 swallow feeding youngster on wires 5 of 7 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
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