{"id":84465,"date":"2021-04-14T06:24:50","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T12:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=84465"},"modified":"2024-08-11T04:17:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T09:17:41","slug":"spring-cliff-swallow-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/14\/spring-cliff-swallow-images\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Cliff Swallow Images"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CliffCliff Swallow warming up on a dirt road \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago I felt wonder and delight as thousands of swallows flew around at the beginning of the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>. When I put my Jeep into park and turned the engine off the swallows flew back in and landed on the road. I had seen a low of 30\u00b0F on my drive to the marshes and I’d bet the swallows were warming up on the radiant heat of the dirt road. I saw Bank, Barn, Tree, and Cliff Swallows in the flock.<\/p>\n

I was able to focus on a nearby adult Cliff Swallow as it warmed up on the dirt auto tour loop road and take a nice series of images of it in the soft light. Moments later something I couldn’t see flushed all of the swallows and they took to the sky again.<\/p>\n

\"BackBack view of an adult Cliff Swallow \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the swallows decided that they were safe they all landed back on the road. I looked through the flock hoping to find a Violet-green or a Northern Rough-winged Swallow but couldn’t find them amongst the thousands of birds.<\/p>\n

When another Cliff Swallow landed close enough I focused on it even though it had its back turned towards me because I liked the view of its pale rump and its bright, white forehead.<\/p>\n

Very soon the Cliff Swallows will begin to build their nests on the refuge to breed and raise their young for the year. Last nesting season I missed out on the nest building process of the Cliff Swallows on the refuge due to the pandemic and because my safety concerns meant I spent less time there than in previous years. This year I plan on making up for that.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Cliff Swallow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was able to focus on a nearby adult Cliff Swallow as it warmed up on the dirt auto tour loop road and take a nice series of images of it in the soft light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,489,26],"tags":[4004,5180,2420,4094,530,641,9663,2326,165,4807,3470,5146,4095],"class_list":["post-84465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-cliff-swallows","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-back-view","tag-cliff-swallow","tag-marsh","tag-migration","tag-petrochelidon-pyrrhonota","tag-return","tag-road","tag-spring","tag-swallow","tag-swallows","tag-warming","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cliff-swallow-adult-on-road-mia-mcpherson-5414.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-lYl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100381,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/05\/swallow-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":84465,"position":0},"title":"Swallow 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Early morning juvenile Cliff Swallow, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cliff-swallow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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