Wednesday 18 May 2011

How fast does a swallow fly?

I would say the answer to the title above is "Bloody fast"!!!
Yesterday I ventured across Brading marshes, and decided I would try and photograph the swallows flying. If you havnt tried it before its not easy! After about 20 minutes of losing them in my viewfinder and trying to keep them in focus I managed to get some record shots. They wont win any photography contests but at least I got something!

I also managed to see the common but beautiful magpie close up 
I have had to wait for 3 weeks for my Nikon camera to be repaired, which seemed like an eternity, so now im itching to get back into the field. Carol and I are going on a dawn chorus walk at 04:30 on sunday, not done that before so looking forward to it.
Another recent tick for me was a whitethroat, also taken on Brading marshes here on the island.
Also taken recently was a house sparrow. We shouldnt take these common birds for granted, they are just as beautiful as some of the rarities, and are becomming more scarce themselves nowadays.
Hopefully I will soon be ordering a new scope, an Opticron HR 80 GA ED model with zoom eyepiece, with tripod, waterproof case and digiscoping set-up. As you can imagine im itching to get started! More to follow when funds arrive!



5 comments:

  1. You did well to get the swallows in the frame - more than I have managed! Like the whitethroat too.

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  2. You did well with the Swallows, they are so difficult to capture!

    So nice to find someone else who thinks Magpies are beautiful rather than some sort of fiend! It would be great if you would consider signing the petition on my sidebar to get corvid traps banned.

    I hardly ever see Whitethroats despite the fact that they are supposed to be common throughout the UK!

    Lovely photo of the House Sparrow and I absolutely agree, we shouldn't overlook them. Sadly, I have noticed they have severely declined here.

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  3. Thanks for your comments guys. Ive signed your petition shy, a very worthy cause! Keep up the good work, lovely blog btw :)

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  4. Thank you so much for signing, I doubt it will do any good but if you don't try...

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  5. Great photos Dave and while your Swallow pic may not win a competition it is still an excellent shot on the wing.

    My blogs are not specifically about birds however I am lucky to live on the edge of a 66ha forest so we are honoured with some amazing visitors like this pair of Pacific Bazas http://wp.me/pMrUv-8v

    Looking forward to the pics with your new equipment.

    Michael Fox
    Mt Gravatt Environment Group & Fox Gully Bushcare

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