Pic of the Day

     Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor – Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Montana:  Benton Lake NWR is home to numerous nesting shorebirds, and that is why I made the refuge a stop on my trip west this past spring.  After spending a morning shooting avocets, stilts and grebes I stopped to check out the refuges photo blind.  When I walked to the blind I saw a small flock of Tree Swallows hawking insects over the cattails growing around the blind.  As I got closer I found a few swallows perched on cattails, and immediately took the opportunity to shoot portraits.   As I was shooting this particular swallow it opened its beak revealing its wide gape, an essential feature of birds that scoop insects out of the air. 

Pic of the Day

     Tree Swallow – Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Ohio:  Right next door to Magee Marsh is Ottawa NWR, and it was there that I found this handsome tree swallow.  This bird was shot at one of my favorite spots in Ottawa, a small bush about fifteen feet in front of a tree swallow house and it provides the perfect perches for the birds (click here for May 22, 2011 post), and always a bustle of activity.

     When I arrived this year the tree swallows had not started nesting, but were looking for sites.  This fellow had picked out my favorite box, but a pair of house sparrows had picked the same box.  There was an ensuing feud between the pairs of birds, and from my observation it looked as if the swallows were ahead.  
     Between the bouts of chasing the sparrows from the box the male alighted on this branch, starred directly into the lens to provide the captivating eye contact between the bird and viewer that I love so much.  The clean background didn't hurt either.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4 VR with 1.4 extender, 1/200 sec. @ f7.1, lens on beanbag resting on auto door window base.

Pic of the Day

     Tree Swallow – Magee Marsh, Ohio:  On the last morning at Magee Marsh I stopped to shoot the active black-capped chickadee nest shown in the previous post.  Much to my surprise I found a tree swallow clinging to the chickadee’s nest entrance.  The tree swallow spent at least ten minutes looking in, and around the cavity.  At one point the swallow entered the cavity for a few seconds and then climbed out.   Finally the swallow flew to a branch just above the cavity entrance and perched.  It appeared to me that the swallow had taken over the cavity. 

     No sooner had the swallow flown to the branch, the female black-capped exploded from the nest, alighted on a nearby branch and was fed by its mate.  The tree swallow, like lightning, swooped to the cavity entrance and alighted.  The chickadee retaliated and drove the swallow away, then entered the cavity.  Though the tree swallow had not taken over the cavity, it was trying to usurp the nest site.  For the rest of the morning the swallow kept returning to the nest tree. Wish I had been able to stay around to see how the drama ended.


Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/60sec. @ f8

Pic of the Day

     Tree Swallows – Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Ohio:  At the end of my first day at Magee Marsh the light cloud cover of the day began to thicken, thunder rumbled and a light rain began to fall.  I left the Magee Marsh boardwalk about 5 PM, and by the time I drove out of the paring lot the rain began to fall.  With the rain falling and light levels low, I decided to explore the surrounding area just to see what other opportunities might be available the next morning.

     My first stop was the Ottawa NWR, which lays adjacent to Magee Marsh.  The road to the visitor’s center was lined with bluebird boxes that were spaced about 300 feet apart.  Instead of Bluebirds, each of the boxes were occupied by a pair of Tree Swallows.  In front of one nest box was a small tree that provided a perfect perch for the attending swallows.

    Using my van as a blind I parked about twenty feet away from the perch and began shooting photos of the female.  Within a few minutes of shooting the male flew-in and began copulating with the female while  on the wing.  Shutter speeds were slow, but the slow speed added motion blur, which in turn added movement and action to the image.  

    When I left Magee Marsh that evening I had thought the days shooting was over.  I had no idea that another great opportunity would present itself to me.  Even though the light was quickly diminishing, shutter speeds were slow, and a light rain fell, the final images of the day were the highlights.  Shooting seldom seen behavior is exciting, especially when unexpected.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/160sec. @ f7.1