Odd Swift in Cardigan, South Wales yesterday. (1 Viewer)

[KenM]

Stopped off in Cardigan South Wales yesterday afternoon, and randomly took a shutter burst of a flyby Swift over the town entrance by the river.
Upon returning home, have only just reviewed it 😮 thought it might be of interest to any local birders, almost certainly a Common Swift, but might be worth a “better” image or two?

Do wish I’d viewed it at the time!! 😩

Cheers

 

[Farnboro John]

It's a Swift. Why isn't it one?

John

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Ken

thanks for sharing this images. Yes, its a Common Swift for me, too.
What makes your pictures interesting imo, it looks like the wing-tips are bended up and extended. I dont know how to describe it better.
Tfs!

 

[KenM]

It's a Swift. Why isn't it one?

John

Of course!…not seen a face like that one before have you?

 

[Farnboro John]

Of course!…not seen a face like that one before have you?

Depending on the light and the amount of contrast in an image that isn't very good to start with, yes of course I have. Many times. But as you say its a pity you didn't actually look at it.... if you had I think you'd have found it quite normal.

John

 

[KenM]

Depending on the light and the amount of contrast in an image that isn't very good to start with, yes of course I have. Many times. But as you say its a pity you didn't actually look at it.... if you had I think you'd have found it quite normal.

John

The point being that any local birder might be better placed to get improved shots, particularly as it’s probably a local breeder.

If I were local (based on these images) I would endeavour to have a look for this bird, if only to procure better images.
Yes I too default to Common Swift, but if the head pattern is actual, as opposed to artefact I’d be intrigued to see better images.

Anyway, feel free to put up some of your loadza aberrant Swift images John….I’m sure we’d all like a “butchers” 😉

 

[Farnboro John]

The point being that any local birder might be better placed to get improved shots, particularly as it’s probably a local breeder.

If I were local (based on these images) I would endeavour to have a look for this bird, if only to procure better images.
Yes I too default to Common Swift, but if the head pattern is actual, as opposed to artefact I’d be intrigued to see better images.

Anyway, feel free to put up some of your loadza aberrant Swift images John….I’m sure we’d all like a “butchers” 😉

Ken, this isn't an aberrant Swift. It's a rubbish photo. I bin those.

John

 

[KenM]

Ken, this isn't an aberrant Swift. It's a rubbish photo. I bin those.

John

That’s why you never find anything John!
Praps I should’ve binned these?

 

[Farnboro John]

That’s why you never find anything John!
Praps I should’ve binned these?

Well, those are obviously weird and yes, had I taken them I'd have kept them in the archive. But that's the point: your post in this thread obviously isn't. It's just a bad photo of a normal Swift.

John

 

[KenM]

Well, those are obviously weird and yes, had I taken them I'd have kept them in the archive. But that's the point: your post in this thread obviously isn't. It's just a bad photo of a normal Swift.

John

Agreed bad images!….don’t forget I’ve a reputation to maintain🤣 however, to my eye the head pattern looks undeniably odd!
Yes of course Apus apus, but if this Swift was local to my town I’d go and have a “look see”and perchance, just from an aesthete perspective improve on the images.

To put it into some sort of personal context, Spring mid’70’s to mid’80’s had me down on my local reservoir causeway, particularly when there was a low.

This often attracted hundreds many fold Swifts, it was like walking through a cloud of large, fast moving midges, so close you could feel their slipstream as they whooshed past your head!

In all that time, I only ever saw two Swifts, with minimal white feathering in the wing and body.
Fast forward to the last eight years and the two extra shots supplied, were “singles” 5years apart over the same lake!

👍

 

[Farnboro John]

If you look at Evadawin's Swift pictures in the ID forum you will see a classic example of how the light changes apparent patterning in actually unicolour plumage. The first photo posted shows almost a wraparound slightly paler brown rump and a patch on the side of the head/neck, whereas the second has only a more confined patch nearer the tail. This is because the bird has changed direction (turned right) so the light strikes a different area. The bird is a uniform colour. It's just a light effect.

A Swift's face is pale. Face the Swift into the sun and a photo will show it contrasting white against black remainder (against the sky the bird will tend to come out darker anyway without any exposure compensation applied); face it away from the sun and the contrast will be much less. Nothing odd about the Swift in your photo.

John

 

[KenM]

If you look at Evadawin's Swift pictures in the ID forum you will see a classic example of how the light changes apparent patterning in actually unicolour plumage. The first photo posted shows almost a wraparound slightly paler brown rump and a patch on the side of the head/neck, whereas the second has only a more confined patch nearer the tail. This is because the bird has changed direction (turned right) so the light strikes a different area. The bird is a uniform colour. It's just a light effect.

A Swift's face is pale. Face the Swift into the sun and a photo will show it contrasting white against black remainder (against the sky the bird will tend to come out darker anyway without any exposure compensation applied); face it away from the sun and the contrast will be much less. Nothing odd about the Swift in your photo.

John

Yes thanks for the tutorial, believe it or not, I’ve actually noticed this artefact on the numerous attempts that I’ve made pursuing Swift for good images (falling short in every case for that “perfect” shot). However in this case, we’ll have to agree to differ on how we individually interpret the images.

Cheers

 

[Farnboro John]

Agreed....

 

[KenM]

I’d have “binned” that….can’t see the eye ring on it!….a must!….for all dark headed bird shots.🤣

 

[MikeInPA]

Agreed....

View attachment 1453801

Topaz DeNoise would do a great job in removing the background noise. Not sure about the KenM background noise though.

 

[Farnboro John]

Topaz DeNoise would do a great job in removing the background noise. Not sure about the KenM background noise though.

Old photo downloaded quickly from my Flickr account. I do use Topaz these days!

John

 

[MikeInPA]

Topaz DeNoise would do a great job in removing the background noise. Not sure about the KenM background noise though.

You know I’m only joking don’t you Ken.

 

[Farnboro John]

Topaz DeNoise would do a great job in removing the background noise. Not sure about the KenM background noise though.

Just for fun then, same Swift with Topaz applied.

John

 

[Richard Prior]

Topaz DeNoise would do a great job in removing the background noise. Not sure about the KenM background noise though.

And I thought Topaz De Noise was an exotic dancer until I discovered Smirnoff…….