View allAll Photos Tagged Swift
I immediately fell in love with the beautiul town of Swifts Creek and our visit here is all too short! If you ever find yourself in this part of the world I highly recommend a visit.
Swifts Creek is Located on the Great Alpine Road in the beautiful Tambo Valley between Omeo and Ensay, 379 kilometres east of Melbourne. The area was originally settled by Europeans in the gold rushes of the mid-1800s.
This Comper Swift was the ninth Swift to be built in 1932 and a 15 minute test flight was made on August 24 1932 by Nick Comper. It was originally registered to Alban Ali as VT-ADO ‘The Scarlet Angel’ and spent the first part of its life in India.
It was a competitor in the 1933 Viceroy’s Challenge Cup Air Race in Delhi. Also competing in this race was Richard Shuttleworth and his flying instructor George Stead, racing in two more Comper Swifts. Alban Ali came sixth with the second fastest time at 124mph. Richard Shuttleworth retired from the race. After the race Ali left Delhi to fly the Swift back to England escorted by George Stead. During this flight Ali had to make a forced landing near Gaza and VT-ADU was badly damaged.
After repairs Ali continued his flight, but the engine was not working properly and Ali crated VT-ADO and shipped it to Heston. ‘The Scarlet Angel’ was then sold to George Errington who rebuilt it and re-registered the aircraft as G-ACTF on May 24 1934, with the aircraft then flying soon after.
During 1998 it was overhauled and restored to its original factory condition and paint scheme.
Melting snow from the south-facing flanks of the Italian Alps funnels into the Rio Sesia and makes a swift, cold rush to eventually join the Po River southwest of Milan. In the background, the shoulders of Monte Rosa push through morning clouds while the summit remains shrouded. I visited this location in hopes of seeing the sunrise clouds burn brightly over the summit but instead enjoyed the cool air of morning and the sound of hurried water.
The visit to Alagna Valsesia and the surrounding mountains was a highlight of our family's trip to northern Italy last summer. Even better, we were able to meet up with a Flickr contact and his family and join them for a beautiful meal and some wine after a day in the hills (Marco, it was such a pleasure!). Given the recent coronavirus outbreak, I believe Marco, his family, and many others who are uninfected are now under quarantine per government mandate in an attempt to halt the spread of the illness. Many people are now suffering from fear, uncertainty, and sometimes loss. My hope is that this, too, shall pass, and with a minimum of additional pain.
Stay well!
This is the second time in 2020 that I have observed mating swifts over the Somerset skies. The prolonged good weather and visibility has been a great help.
Canon EOS R5
RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
Æ’/7.1 500.0 mm 1/4000 640
The swift is a medium-sized aerial bird, which is a superb flyer. Sleeping, eating, bathing and even mating on the wing, swifts rarely touch the ground. They are also the fastest birds in level flight, with an impressive top speed of 69mph.
Swifts are plain sooty brown, with a white throat, but in flight against the sky they appear black. They have long, scythe-like wings and a short, forked tail. Swifts are summer visitors, breeding across the UK, but are most numerous in the south and east. Spending their winters in Africa, swifts migrate 3,400 miles twice a year, stopping off to refuel in places like Portugal and France along the way.
After a long flight back from their summer in Africa, swifts have one thing on their minds - to mate. Swifts pair for life, returning to the same site each year for a little nest renovation before laying and incubating their eggs. They like to live in houses and churches, squeezing through tiny gaps to nest inside roofs. But as more old buildings are renovated and gaps in soffits closed up, swift nest sites are fast disappearing. This, in part, has resulted in swifts being added to the Red list in the 2021 UK Conservation Status Report.
Red is the highest conservation priority, with species on this list needing urgent action. Species on this list, such as swifts, are globally threatened, with big declines in breeding populations and ranges. That’s why swifts urgently need our help. By installing a swift brick in a wall, or putting up a nestbox, you could give a swift a place to rest and raise a family.
In my part of the Yorkshire Pennines Swifts are one of the shortest-staying summer visitors. They arrive in May after most other migrants have already arrived, and they are usually gone by the middle of August, again before most migrants have departed. This year my last Pennine sighting was 20 August and I thought that would be my last for the year, but on 9 September there were at least half a dozen Swifts flying around the Spurn peninsula. Late Swifts are always worth checking as this is the time when rare Pallid Swifts occasionally wander here from southern Europe. These are difficult to identify, especially if the light is poor so I really only photographed this bird to check it wasn't a Pallid Swift. Alas, not a Pallid, but I was pleasantly surprised by the photo so thought I'd upload it.
Another interesting thing about Swifts is that once they leave their nest, their feet won't touch the ground for two or three years until they nest themselves. By this time the young Swift will have made two or three return journeys to sub-Saharan Africa. They eat, drink, sleep and even mate on the wing, only landing when they nest. The oldest known Swift was ringed as a nestling in Switzerland and was caught back there 21 years later, by which time it was estimated to have flown perhaps 3 million miles.
The scientific name Apus apus comes from the Greek " a pous" meaning without foot. Swift legs are so small that it was once believed that they did not have any feet.
Decided to try the 100-400GM today -- it's a little faster, and should be faster focusing as well.
Definitely the clearest photo so far of a Swift. But there is a distressing resemblance to a fish - possibly a salmon.
Up in Vail this weekend and caught a shot of the swift waters running down into Gore Creek from The Mountains of Vail. ENJOY! www.matthewmcewanphoto.com
Swift over Chasewater dam, Staffordshire. Very much a lucky shot but one I have been attempting for a long time.
I've never really tried taking photos of swifts but there were a few flying around the sea wall at RSPB Frampton Marsh so I thought I'd give it a go. As I expected it wasn't easy but I was quite happy with some of the photos I got
Spent a bit of time today watching these tiny aerial acrobats. Moving at speeds between 70 and 105mph, they are a challenging subject to say the least!
In the snowy wildness of Churchill, Canada, a red fox dashed gracefully across the frozen landscape.
On a hazy day back when RoadRailer trains were a thing, solo UP6754 (GE C44AC) rolls around Tehachapi Loop with 37 Swift RoadRailer units in September 2000.
(00.063.03_UP6754_SwiftRRailerWt)
Some swifts have definitely managed to find a way into our eaves, just behind the gutter. It is impressive how they manage to squeeze through such a tiny gap.
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