The Welcome Swallow

Today it was another wonderful Sunday afternoon spent at the Mt. Barker Laratinga Wetlands. As soon as we arrived I noticed Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) acrobatically zooming around very close to the water, catching invisible insects. I mean REALLY zooming at incredible speeds, such that it was near impossible to get a focus on them.

Being that the bird is quite small (15 cm) made it seemed an interesting challenge. This made me even more determined to get one on the wing for my blip today.

Spent roughly an hour recording over 700 shots (multiple shutter) in order to get 5 shots that were worth considering. Thanks to blip, I have learned the art of patience! LOL.

The Welcome Swallow is metallic blue-black above, light grey below on the breast and belly, and rusty orange on the forehead, throat and upper breast. It has a long forked tail, with a row of white spots on the individual feathers. The outer tail feathers (streamers) are slightly shorter in the female.

Better feathers.

They are widespread in Australia, but are less common in the far north than in the south. They visit a wide variety of habitats with the exception of the more heavily forested regions. Welcome Swallows are partially migratory, moving around in response to food availability. This is the first time I have seen them this season.

They feed on a wide variety of insects catching prey in flight, using their acrobatic flying skills. The prey is guided into the bird's wide, open mouth with the help of short rictal bristles bordering the bill. Welcome Swallows readily breed close to human habitation.

The nest is an open cup of mud and grass, made by both sexes, and is attached to a suitable structure, such as a vertical rock wall or building. The nest is lined with feathers and fur.

PS from my football blip yesterday:
Actually there are 36 players on the field at all times, being 18 from each team. After I put up my closeup blip, I put my wide-angle shot from this match in my Misc. blipfolio here.