Lake Jessup Swallows

Went out to see what was left of the North Lake Jessup Conservation Area after TS Fay flooded the entire area after days of heavy rains. Many local roads were covered for days and the area where the Vermillion Flycatcher visited the last two years was 3 feet deep in water.

I arrived a little later than planned but found a nice windy day sweeping across what has become less of a sparrow habitat and more the actual cattle pasture that it was intended for.

The floods removed all of the weedy brush that the sparrows love and I found no sparrows on my trip at all. A few Palm Warblers darted about but nothing like the numbers of birds found previously. The only thing left were a few raptors staring at the ground in hopes of finding food and a huge flock of Tree Swallows.

Gave me a chance to try the frustrating task of getting images of little bullets soaring past every few minutes. Sometimes they would actually fly within feet of me but getting an auto-focus lens to deal with these streaking hunters was quite a chore.

Out of all of the times that I pressed the shutter release I maybe ended up with only a handful of good shots. Like this one.



One of the surprising finds was that I captured a juvenile among all of the adults swooping past. Didn't even notice the difference while I was watching.



A number of the swallows were swooping low to grab insects from the water surface just around the muddy edge. Nabbed this one milliseconds after it hit the water for a snack.



A last adult in flight.




Even if there are few birds out on this pasture it is always a thrill to be surrounded by Tree Swallows. It is a grand experience every time and brings a smile to my face though I might be 2 feet deep in mud.