Water is a wildlife magnet. These were taken at two local ponds today.
Swifts and house martins were circling above… and swooping to catch insects above the water's surface. It takes me a while to organize myself to capture shots of them over the water, so these are 'in flight' shots.
A swift in flight
Swift and house martin
At a second local pond, the young crows were waiting to be fed.
The true stars of the ponds at this time of year are the dragonflies, and today was exceptional. The broad bodied chasers were zig-zagging across the pond in small flocks!
As fascinating as the chasers were to watch, the emperors were in a class of their own.
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
Dudley
1 Jul 2010Great perspective on the dragonfly shots :yes:
debplatt
1 Jul 2010I have been enjoying watching juvenile birds, almost as big as their parents, waiting to be fed. The other day a mother and child sparrow flew to one of my bird feeders. The juvenile perched there and waited open-mouthed for the parent to feed it, which it did. 😀
SittingFox
1 Jul 2010I love swifts. They're one of our most elegant birds, I think 🙂
cakkleberrylane
2 Jul 2010Wonderful shots! You have certainly mastered photos of the dragonflies,
Words
3 Jul 2010Lois thanks! I've had plenty of practice and a perfect location.
Words
3 Jul 2010Thanks Erwin!
Words
3 Jul 2010Adele, the swift is such an amazing bird. I've got a new sequence of them that I'll try to sort out.
Words
3 Jul 2010Deb, young birds are great fun to watch. The words "selfish" and "greedy" were made for them 🙂
Words
3 Jul 2010Andy, thanks. It's been a great season for them.
Ukwildlife
6 Jul 2010Great photos – the young crow calling and emperor take off are stand out pics!
Words
6 Jul 2010Thanks Neil!
Wulpen
19 Oct 2012Great shots