Saturday, April 11, 2009

Tree Swallows a Go-Go!

Rick, Matty and I went to VOA park this morning for a short bit of birding. The Tree Swallows were spectacular and had already claimed nest boxes. I had my hand up, pointing towards a nest box in the distance for Rick, and a swallow slowly hovered around me and was within three feet of landing on my hand. It was a lot of fun. We also saw our first Bobolink of the year and a migrating Horned Grebe, plus Wilson’s Snipe, Meadowlarks, Song Sparrows and all the other usual suspects! I’ll have photos over the next couple of days from this trip.







12 comments:

Ginnymo said...

Oh my!! What a beautiful bird!! What beautiful photos Kelly!! I've never seen that bird. The colors are so brilliant!

Kelly said...

...Tree Swallows are fun, beautiful and they sound cute too. I can't get enough of them.

Unknown said...

Beautiful pictures of the Tree Swallows!

Not seen any Swallows here yet, will be keeping my eye out again today.

Matt Latham said...

Tree Swallows are beautiful and you have captured some beautiful images here.

Warren Baker said...

Blue swallows! amazing! Happy easter Kelly

Laure Ferlita said...

Just love the playfulness of the first photo, Kelly! Such gorgeous birds - would love to see them in person - maybe one day!! : )

Jayne said...

Oh, so very beautiful Kelly! We saw more Tree Swallows yesterday too, but my shots weren't nearly as close or sharp. :c)

Andy said...

Love the top photo.
Great series.

FAB said...

Wow...FAB close-ups of Tree Swallows & so blue.

Kelly said...

Paul...thanks! The swallows at VOA are way ahead of the swallows at Pine Hill Lakes...less than 4 miles away from each other, but a huge difference in timing.

Matt...thank you!

Warren...the sun shining on them really brings out their iridescent color. Thank you!!

Laure...thanks...the first one cracks me up. I laugh every time I see it.

Jayne...I can't believe how lucky we were. They were in a playful mood. One almost landed on my hand. I think if I had stayed there for a couple of hours on a chair...eventually, they would have.

Andy...thank you!

FAB...I wonder if their mood will ever be repeated. They are often described as "gregarious," and they surely were Saturday! The sun really brought out their iridescent blue colors.

Mary said...

How beautiful and such great photos. I've been seeing some sort of swallow swooping over the water at the wetlands, but neither of us has succeeded in getting a descent photo yet. They are so fast and so small to track.

Kelly said...

Mary, you're right. They are so fast...and really fun to watch!