December Days in Photos, Day 13: Wildlife

[nanila]

[Swallow House martin in flight, skimming over the canal.]

sfred asked for a wildlife photo for their birthday. This is the best shot I've managed to take thus far of a swallow house martin* in flight - they're desperately difficult to capture when they're wheeling and spinning about after insects. It made me think of you because of Swallows and Amazons. Happy birthday!

* hat-tip to forthwritten and djm4 for corrected identification!

Comments

[sfred]

Thank you! This is beautiful.

[nanila]

I'm glad you like it! Hope you had a fab day.

I'm looking forward to their return next year, so I can enjoy watching them and try for better shots.

[forthwritten]

Please don't be offended, but that looks more like a house martin than a swallow to me! They're very similar to swallows (and, indeed, swifts) in terms of appearance and behaviour - one of those instances of convergent evolution resulting in small, sleek, fast birds. They're absolutely wonderful to watch and very difficult to photograph as they're so fast. You've captured one brilliantly in this photo.

[djm4]

Yes, it's a beautiful and technically very tricky photograph of a the swallow's very close relative, the house martin. Key distinctive features are the white rump and chin, and the bluer back (which has come out especially well in this photo). Swallows and martins often flock and feed together, so it can be very hard to tell which one you're watching as they fly past chattering away. If you see one that's dark brown with a chinstrap, that's a sand martin; they're a lot rarer, but I wouldn't be surprised to see one over the canal.

[nanila]

Thank you for the very clear identification and markers! I didn't know they often fed together. There's an old shed near this spot on the canal where some swallows nest, so I just assumed all the ones I saw flitting over the water were swallows. It's exciting to learn we have house martins as well. :)

[nanila]

Ah! Yes! Thank you so much for the correction! I assumed it was a swallow because a group of them nest in an old shed near that spot on the canal. I'm very happy to have photographed a house martin as well, and glad that we have both near us.

[cmcmck]

Still around eh?

The weather has really foxed them and it could cause havoc later!

[nanila]

Oh no, I don't think they're still around. At least I hope not. I took this photo in late July, fortunately!

[ironed_orchid]

Great photo.

[nanila]

Thank you!