Swallows – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

April 2, 2023April 2, 2023

2023-04-02: Birds in Southern Africa

The arrival this week of the robins makes it feel like spring is finally on the way, despite the volume of snow that is still on the ground. Listening to their song and seeing them on the road reminded me that I have posted very few bird images lately, even though my last trip was bird focused.

The selection for this week is fairly random; just a small sampling of some of the birds seen on my most recent trip, with more to follow.

A pair of lesser striped swallows seen in Madikwe. There were several pairs nesting in the photography hide at Jaci’s lodge, giving some great opportunities to watch these birds up close. South Africa, November, 2022.

A southern masked weaver perched in the reeds along the edge of a dam. This individual was spotted whilst on a bird trip just outside of Johannesburg. South Africa, November, 2022.

A long tailed widow bird spotted near Johannesburg. These birds are amazing in flight; their long breeding feathers nearly pulling them out of the air.

A starling, I believe the greater blue eared, seen while traveling in Zimbabwe. November, 2022.

A violet backed starling in perfect morning light. Botswana, November, 2022.

December 8, 2019

2019-12-08: Random photos from walks

I always take a camera with me when I go out for walks with my dog (or on the rare occasion when I go for a walk on my own). I haven’t taken too many images in recent months, and as such hadn’t downloaded the card in quite some time. While out on Thursday, I saw a beautiful barred owl near my house, and while reviewing those pictures, I found a few others I had forgotten that I had taken.

This is a bit of a random assortment of images taken since July, while out and about on walks.

P1040402 — I see this young buck frequently around the neighbourhood now, but this was the first time that I had spotted him while out on a walk.

P1040399 copy-Edit — A violet-green swallow seen while out on a walk on the dikes in Pitt Meadows.

P1040415 copy-Edit — A proof shot that there are moose in the neighbourhood, even if they are seen very infrequently.

P1040426 copy-Edit — A barred owl spotted on my morning walk last week.

P1040391 — An early morning along the Pitt River.

August 31, 2019

2019-08-31: Birds – Shades of Blue

Travelling through southern Africa, pretty much any time of year, will provide the opportunity to see a great variety of birds. Today I chose to focus on ones with feathers in shades of blue. I hope you enjoy the variety of images today, and wishing you a wonderful weekend!

DSCF0874 copy-Edit — A lilac breasted roller

DSCF0927 copy-Edit copy — A burchell’s starling

DSCF2172 — A pair of cape glossy starlings

DSCF2569 copy-Edit — A cape glossy starling

XT3X4113 copy-Edit — A wire-tailed swallow

DSCF0017 copy-Edit.jpg — A double-collared sunbird

DSCF0891 copy-Edit.jpg — A lilac breasted roller

June 10, 2018

2018-06-10: Birds Projects – Sparrows and Swallows

It has been a challenging week for photographing the birds, with dull, cold, rainy days, and flat, lifeless skies. But, regardless of the weather, the show must go on, and if I were on holiday I wouldn’t give up on taking pictures just because the weather wasn’t perfect.

I took a trip early in the week to a nearby farm where there are nest boxes for swallows and bluebirds. While I saw a couple of brief glimpses of the bluebirds, I didn’t capture any images, so I will have to go back and try again for those. I did get some good images of the swallows and bluebirds in the same area a couple of years ago, you can find that old post here.

It looks like the sun may make a brief appearance today, so it’s time to sign off and get outside and get shooting. I hope you enjoy this week’s images, I am hoping to have some hummingbird images to share next week.

DSCF0750 — I find it difficult naming the wide variety of small, brown and beige coloured birds we have in the area, but I am almost certain this is a Clay-Coloured Sparrow. While it looks like the bird is singing a beautiful song, it actually sounded like some type of buzzing insect, which is the exact description of the song for this sparrow in my bird book.

To find out more about the Clay-Coloured Sparrow (and here the insect buzz call), check out the link below.

All About Birds – Clay Coloured Sparrow

DSCF0763 — A tree sparrow peeks out from the nesting box.

DSCF0772 — A tree sparrow couple during one of the brief moments of sunlight while I was out.

April 10, 2016

2016-04-10: What I’ve seen this week

I went for a quick drive this morning, after hearing about tree swallows and potentially mountain bluebirds nesting in a field fairly close to home. I was rewarded with seeing both. I’ve never seen mountain bluebirds before this, and the intensity of the males feathers reminds me of the brightly coloured birds of Southern Africa.

It’s far too nice today though to spend much time indoors, so I’ll get to the photos and wish everyone a wonderful week ahead. 🙂