Photographing swallows in flight is one of the more difficult tasks I attempt as a bird photographer. They’re small, fast and erratic so my keeper rate with them is incredibly low.
But it helps if they’re hovering in flight and when the reason they’re hovering is a cute little fledgling they’re feeding I have the added bonus of the behavioral interplay between two birds (even though getting them both sharp is another matter).
1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II US, not baited, set up or called in
In August of 2015 I spent some time with an adult Barn Swallow feeding one of its fledglings at Bear River MBR. The youngster would wait on the perch while the parent made multiple trips delivering insects to the ravenous young bird. Usually the insects were midges so they were quite small and difficult to see in my photos. Here the adult has just fed a midge to the fledgling and is about to fly off.
Normally I prefer complete separation of my subjects but because we can still see the youngster well through the fanned primaries of the adult I actually like the effect in this photo.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II US, not baited, set up or called in
Here the adult is about to stuff a midge down the throat of the fledgling. I wish we could see the youngster’s eye better than we can but for me that’s a minor flaw given the behavior and the interaction of the two birds, especially when one of them is in flight. I love the flight posture of the adult and the good look at almost its entire ventral surface.
Getting these photos and a few others of these birds was a real treat for me. Over the years I’ve spent countless hours attempting to photograph Barn and Cliff Swallows in flight near an old barn on our Montana family farm with almost nothing of any quality to show for it so it was nice to finally have my persistence (stubbornness…) pay off.
Ron
Ron:
Congratulations on the wonderful captures. It is such a nice feeling when persistence is finally rewarded. What I don’t understand is how you could have possibly waited this long to post these great images.
Thank you, Dave. Back then I posted a few other shots of these birds and then I just forgot about the others. One of the reasons it’s often a good idea to go back and check my archives…
Stunning!
Thanks, Elmer.
Stunning flight poses of the parent. You hit these out of the park for sure, Ron!
I’m glad you like them, Marty. Thanks.
Marvelous behavioral shots Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
what really cool pictures of the barn swallow feeding it’s baby!
What patience and love the mother must have in taking all that time to feed the baby!
Thank you!
Thank you, Adele.
Again just beautiful ❗️Your pictures are the best way to start off my day😃
I’m glad to hear that, Diana.
Midges are so small….must take many, many of rhem to satify those gaping maws!!!
It does.
Nice. Love these photos! My barn swallows and tree swallows in flight photographs are usually consist of little blurry dots set nicely against a vast in-focus background 🙂
Ha, I have plenty of shots like that too, Joanne. At least I did before I deleted them. Thanks.
Thanks, I needed a good laugh, as that’s EXACTLY what most of mine are, too 🙂
🙂
I love thes pictures .. and my biggest problem was wing blur .. and yes depth of field ..but like you my swallow fledgling pictures are special to me .. my lens is going back to canon for a 3 rd time now😖.. took it to another professional and he emailed canon for me on its horrific performance .. I should never have sold my 400 .. I’m without a backup..
Yes, plenty of SS is essential to stop motion blur, especially on small birds.
If you ask me Canon owes you a brand new lens…
Gorgeous! They sure are fast and often erratic in flight and you succeeded in capturing the action. Feeding the fledglings is a never ending battle. We have a bridge near by that they use for nesting – every OTHER year mostly – and the power lines over the creek provide a staging are for bug hatches off the creek and a waiting perch for the young. Endlessly fascinating to watch……:)
Interesting that they only nest there on alternate years, Judy. I wonder why. Thank you.
That second photo is incredible, but I love them both. I am in awe! I’m sure I have never seen this captured before.
Thanks very much, Mary. It was very satisfying for me to finally get some quality shots of swallows in flight.