River Swallow

I finally got a decent in-flight photo of a Tree Swallow! I was shooting photos of Terns fishing in the river when this guy darted through the scene after mosquitos and knats. I held down the button, swung with him as he went by and by pure chance the camera actually locked in on him. It’s certainly not a pretty shot due the dirty river bank background but at least you can tell it’s a Tree Swallow :wink: He’s pretty small in the frame so I suggest viewing the large file for a better look at him. You can click twice for an even closer look.

Sony a6500, SEL200600G @ 600mm, ISO-400, f/6.3, 1/2500, hand held. Almost a 50% crop.

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Good catch, Gary! Amazing that the focus caught him against that background, though he does have some nice sharp high contrast borders for it to pick up on.

Nice Gary and congrats on this capture. The bird shows up well in the large view and I like the water drops as well. We get a sense of place from the water and background so I am pretty much okay with it. Nice frame.

Hi Gary
Nice frame grab, I have tried the very shot maybe 20 time, with no were near the quality you have here. Nice work.
Peter