Post by nickinthegarden on May 31, 2020 10:10:47 GMT -8
On the way home this morning I was driving along Dixon and got to almost 5 Rd when I saw a lot of Swifts along with many Swallows. It was raining and the cloud was heavy and the Swifts would disappear into the clouds, the swallows stayed very near the ground. I drove around a bit trying to get a better view but ended back at Dixon and 5 Rd where I was able to manage some incredibly bad images, so noisy due to the high ISO I was using but clear enough to ID them. I felt there was about 15 but it was hard to tell for sure with their speed and their flying into the low cloud. All the action I assume was due to a bug bloom in the ditches lining the roads.
CORRECTION: I went through the terrible photos and discovered with the assistance of another birder that they were a mixed flock of Black and Vaux's Swifts. I looked again on Monday morning for them but I did not find any. I would encourage people traveling the Sumas Prairie to keep an eye out for them.
CORRECTION: I went through the terrible photos and discovered with the assistance of another birder that they were a mixed flock of Black and Vaux's Swifts. I looked again on Monday morning for them but I did not find any. I would encourage people traveling the Sumas Prairie to keep an eye out for them.
