After returning from Juneau and camping at the Sheyenne NGL, I focused not on finding different birds but on getting a better view at familiar ones: swallows. I've always been impressed with those who manage great photos of birds on the wing, and one of the most challenging albeit common birds to photograph has to be swallows. When I was younger and working at a golf course, I always loved watching the Barn Swallows flying around the practice green, carving through the air and snatching insects at low altitude seemingly unbothered by the humans around them.
On the fourteenth of June, I was down by the Bois de Sioux River and saw my first Indigo Bunting of the year plus a few turtles hanging around the shore.
Afterwards, I walked over the bridge where the Cliff Swallows nest and decided I would try to get some shots of them in action.
I started off near the water and tried to practice simply on tracking the birds which was a struggle with the varying backgrounds. When a Chimney Swift appeared and began taking passes over the river, I realized that maybe swallows aren't too fast. I was happy just getting this picture:
I moved over to the more spacious grass of the fairgrounds and found myself tracking the birds better but still struggling very much to get photos of them in close range of my 100-500mm lens.
After wearing out my shoulders on these Barn Swallows, I headed home to go through the pictures and do a little research on bird-in-flight photography. Two days later, I returned to the fairgrounds. Something clicked that morning, and I found myself having a much easier time tracking the swallows in flight, and the autofocus of the R6 was performing excellently. It was encouraging to see a lot of progress with a little practice and research. I didn't get any really stunning shots, but I'm pretty happy with quite a few of these.
But one success doesn't guarantee another. My next two stops at the fairgrounds netted only frustration. One morning was plagued by poor conditions as the clouds would just not disperse until the sun was higher than I wanted, and the next morning I could not get the R6's autofocus to behave for reasons unknown. I haven't tried to photograph the swallows again, but with some hot, clear mornings in the forecast I might get myself down to the fairgrounds and try to be more patient.
More recently, I drove down to the cities for fun with family and took advantage of the drives to hit up a few spots for birding. I brought along my P1000 as my shoulders were getting quite sore of lugging the R6 with a heavy lens and made my first stop at the North Ottawa Impoundment which I cruised along on the afternoon of July 2. With most of the birds being well off in the water, I didn't get any shots I cared for aside from the Bobolink below, but I did see a good number of first birds of the year including Western and Pied-billed Grebe, Wilson's Phalarope, Black and Forster's Tern, etc.
On the way back from the cities, I paused at the St. John's Abbey Arboretum. I was hoping to spot some vireos and loons but was happy with the Eastern Bluebirds and Osprey I saw.
I also hit the conveniently located Prairie Wetlands Learning Center to see my first Purple Martins of the year and was immediately rewarded.
I'm planning to enjoy the rest of July in town, doing a little birding here and there but focusing mostly on other activities. My big end-of-summer trip is coming up in a few weeks.
