****NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW****
Dave
at the end end of the Grand Codroy estuary right now!!!.Amazing close
views as the birds wheeled around at times only a couple feet of the
ground over the soccor field behind the school.I will post a full
description later on.I just compiled a few notes on size,structure and
flight pattern and will complete the write up before consulting a
field guide.I'm leaving now to try to get photos,which will be
extremely difficult given it is a dreary misty day- the kind that are
awesome for swallow watching!Also present in the flock were at least 2
Cliff Swllows and at least 1(possibly 2) Chimney Swifts.Oh and we also
had a Northern Mockingbird in front of house 140 in Searston.
Dave Brown
Jen Harding
dave....@gmail.com
Jen and I relocated the Rough-winged Swallow about an hour ago,again
at the soccer field behind the school.Bird was again observed at close
range and was easily discernable from the other swallows,even with the
naked eye based on a combination of coloration and flight pattern.
Upperparts- even brown.Tough to describe the exact color but appeared
to be a darker and warmer shade of brown than the Bank Swallows.It
appeared warmer when viewed during very brief sunny periods.There were
not any distinguishing features on the rump or nape,foreheard etc,
that I could see.
Underparts. It was apparent even with relatively distant binocular
views that about half of this birds underside was dusky and not the
contrasting white of Tree Swallow. The throat appeared to be slightly
paler than the breast and belly which appered a diffused dusky
brown.At times the light conditions made it difficult to see the
difference between the throat and breast,but in close views from
within 10-30 feet this was noticeable.
Structure and behavior- The bird was noticeably larger than Bank
Swallow and appeared slightly smaller than Tree Swallow.It appeared to
have wings of similar shape and length as Tree Swallow,perhaps being
closest to Cliff Swallow,which was also present at the time. The tail
appeared to be relatively short and somewhat rounded in flight.I
noticed it's similarity with the Cliff Swallows nearby. The bird also
seemed to fly in lazy fashion when compared to some of the other
swallows.It flight was much more relaxed with deeper,fuller wingbeats
when compared side by side with the flicking wingbeats of Bank
Swallows.It was easily recognizeable at close range without binoculars
based on coloration and flight pattern.
I observed the bird for about 20-30 minutes from distances ranging
from 10-200 feet with my 8X 42 bins.It was within 75 feet for about
half that time as it fed low over the soccer field. I first noticed
the bird about 100 feet away and it instantly stuck me that this was a
plain, even brown swallow but was not all white below,did not have any
white intruding into the nape area and lacked a forked tail and
extremely quick wingbeats shown by Bank Swallow.I reserved my
excitement initially, until I felt I could thoroughly rule out some
weird brown Tree Swallow (I've seen some pretty brown ones in the
past,mainly in fall). The bird then flew much closer at times passing
within 10 feet when I viewed it without binoculars.I never heard the
bird vocalize at any point. I then called Jen and we both returned to
the area and again located the swallow,Jen also prepared some notes on
her observation.
On my second visit I was able to firm that there were in fact two
Chimney Swifts as they both flew together over the soccer field for
about 10 minutes
Dave Brown