[Tweeters] Birds in Flight (BIF) photography

[Robert O'Brien]

Photographing Swifts. Here is a trick that worked for me, using an older
but still great Canon EOS 7D & 300 mm lens.
(Any modern camera and lens will work).
 I propped the camera on my car roof at the correct vertical angle,
focusing on my chimney and at a right angle to the exit flight of 'our'
nesting pair of swifts.
The camera was in movie mode.  When a bird entered the chimney I started it
running.  The bird soon emerged and 3-5 frames captured it.
I stopped the movie and waited for the next entrance.  Then I separated all
the individual frames of the movie into jpgs and selected the 3-5.with the
parent swift.  (Software on the internet will do this; some is available
with a free trial at times.)

A Chimney Swift had come down the chimney into my house earlier in the
season, (2nd Oregon State record;
https://oregonbirding.org/wp-content/uploads/OBRCphotos/423-14-02.mp4and
I was wondering whether it might be nesting with a Vaux's Swift.  From the
'movie jpg'  photos I was able to determine that it was not.   Both were
Vaux's.

Then I got a little more creative and tried to capture the just-fledged
young reentering the chimney.  This was harder because I had to anticipate
the entrance so that there would not be too much footage before the
swiftlets entered.  Here I got lucky and got photos of one fledgling
missing the entrance and bouncing off the horizontal edge of the chimney.
Unfazed, it went around and went in the next time.  A miracle it can catch
the side of the chimney and prevent its fall to the bottom what with it's
new experience in flight.

As to catching an adult entering the chimney.  Absolutely no luck there.
They enter the chimney vertically, full speed ahead.  None of this
fluttering downward you see with flocks entering chimneys.

Bob OBrien   Portland

PS  I'm sure those adept with movie editing (not me) could more easily
extract just the desired frames rather than all of them as I did.



On Thu, Apr 6, 2023 at 12:57 PM Kevin Lucas <vikingcove at gmail.com> wrote:


> At Poppoff on March 19 I saw several Vaux's Swifts flying with a mixed

> flock of Tree and Violet-green Swallows. Picking out the swifts from the

> swallows was easiest by their flight style and speed, rather than by field

> marks. Then I'd get my binocs on them to get a nicer view of the bird. Once

> I got into that, I tried adding in my camera as the last step, eventually

> skipping the binocs step. I wasn't my quickest or most coordinated that

> day, and even at my best, swifts are tough. They're swift. To my eye,

> there's no faster bird in "level" flight. I got just a few Loch Ness photos

> of swifts, and didn't even get any good ones of the swallows. I submitted a

> couple of photos with my checklist for the Vaux's Swifts. Vaux's Swift

> maven Larry Switters shared that some early Vaux's Swifts are expected with

> swallows. My sighting has not been bestowed eBird's seal of "Confirmed".

>

> https://ebird.org/checklist/S131477820

>

> Since this morning is drizzling and I've not yet ventured out, I decided

> to search for some tips on swift photography. The most fun advice I found

> was:

>

> "... Then when you have finished, delete all the pictures on your card

> without wasting any more time by reviewing them. It really is a thankless

> task and you should be able to find something far more constructive to do

> with a warm, well-lit day. Remember to reset all the functions on your

> camera before getting on with your life."

>

>

> https://www.10000birds.com/dont-take-pictures-of-swifts.htm#:~:text=The%20speed%20and%20light%20reflecting,focussing%20range%20of%20your%20lens

> .

>

> I found some more advice, quite usable, at another site for anyone with a

> desire to go against the grain, whether my grail of trying to find and

> document rarities accurately and get them "confirmed" on eBird, or

> improving your skill at photographing birds in flight (BIF). I love seeing

> all the positions of birds and details of plumage that don't appear in any

> field guide, even in cruddy photos. They're fun, and also help me learn how

> many ways birds can be misidentified, even in individual photos.

>

> https://timcollierphotography.com/articles/photographing-swifts/

>

> March 19th was by far the earliest I've found Vaux's Swifts here in Yakima

> County. Previously I've seen and photographed them here as early as April

> 10th. That was at the Johnson Auto Glass chimney roost. Even when I

> pre-focused on the chimney top there, most of my photos in low light and

> hand held have been merely acceptable. Capturing individuals as they flew

> over me there in the parking lot was more challenging. Capturing the swifts

> at Poppoff, when I'd not been psyched-up for the effort, and with the

> distractions of all the other little birdies there, was even more of a

> challenge, one I enjoyed.

>

> If anyone has tips that specifically help them with photographing birds in

> flight, I'd love to read them. Even a reminder of something I've learned

> before might be priceless.

>

> Poppoff Trail is the southernmost section of Yakima Greenway Path along

> the western side of the Yakima River.

>

>

> https://www.google.com/maps/place/Poppoff+Nature+Trail,+Union+Gap,+WA+98903/@46.5649757,-120.470624,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x5499d61600e45437:0xe001040245b92f08!8m2!3d46.5649757!4d-120.4684353!16s%2Fg%2F1pzqhtr25

>

>

> Good Birding,

>

> https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/

>

> https://www.audubon.org/get-outside/audubons-guide-ethical-bird-photography

>

> Kevin Lucas

> Yakima County, Washington

>

> *Qui tacet consentire videtur*

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