2017-08-17&18 Antelope Island Swallows

Swallows in flight are difficult subjects to photograph. When I realized I was overloading on gull and phalarope images, I paid attention to these elusive birds darting low over the water. I may have misidentified some of the Tree Swallow images. I believe there were Bank, Barn, Tree, and Violet-Green Swallows present. Some of the images I rejected due to softness looked very much like juvenile Bank Swallows (or Sand Martins, as the rest of the planet calls them). Ultimately, the broad tails on the images I kept caused me to call most of the doubtful subjects “Tree Swallows”. I tagged two of the images as Bank Swallows due to the paler coloring on the lower back. Violet-Green Swallows were also present. The lighting in which I caught these birds in leaves me doubting several of the IDs. I welcome any input that might clear up my clumsy ID skills.

Tomorrow I’ll finish the Antelope Island series with Phalaropes, my personal favorites.