Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Vaux's Swifts

Sunset is the time to watch Vaux's Swift as they swarm and catch mosquitos. This is happening at McNear's brickyard off San Pedro Road in San Rafael. The birds fly around and then descend into one of three defunct kiln chimneys. They are on break while on their way to Mexico, having come from Alaska. These birds are not built to walk, clinging instead to the inside walls of the chimneys. I believe this is where they build their nests, with the fledglings leaving after about a month. My pictures are not very sharp for three reasons ~ 1) The action takes place way high, and all I have is a 250mm lens. 2) The birds don't want to pose for the photographer, but fly at up to 30 miles/hour. 3) Since the action takes place at dusk, light conditions are less than optimal!
 
If you want more information, let me suggest wikipedia.org.
 

No comments: