Due to a hip operation, I've spent some time this summer studying and photographing swifts from my apartment in central Stockholm, Sweden. Well, trying to photograph them anyway. I know of two nestings this year in my yard under the roof (not nesting boxes), and there is a colony of maybe 20-30 birds around the blocks where I live. Usually the swifts leave Stockholm around August 15-25, so this years chicks should be on the wing now.
I have read up on aging swifts and know it's not easy to identify them. Attached is a cropped photo I took today (August 13) which I think/hope is a 1cy individual. It was part of a foraging company high up in the air. The characters I think I see are:
I would of course like to get a good photo of a 1cy individual that shows the whitish/pale tips on the coverts.
I have read up on aging swifts and know it's not easy to identify them. Attached is a cropped photo I took today (August 13) which I think/hope is a 1cy individual. It was part of a foraging company high up in the air. The characters I think I see are:
- Clearly deliniated white patch on throat, white lores and white forehead.
- Clearly darker median coverts against greater coverts and wing.
I would of course like to get a good photo of a 1cy individual that shows the whitish/pale tips on the coverts.
