ML27826221

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***Very exceptional high count. FOY. Rainy conditions and northbound storms appear to have pelted swallows on this lake. The lake surface was moving with swallows. Viewed from behind Walgreens. Conditions at the time of observation were still heavy rain, though easing off. Swallows were lighting up and off the lake in flocks. Counting methodology: An individual count was impossible. Estimated total swallows by 50s and got 29 counts (1450 swallows). Estimates of 50 were based on 3 counts of 50 to verify approximate density and accuracy. Then randomly identified 50 swallows from all over the lake (dense flocks mostly and loose individuals as well) and got 9 BARS and 41 CLSW. It was visibly apparent just by random observation that CLSW far outnumbered BARS, which I found surprising and very unusual. I repeated the methodology twice and have given average numbers here. Both counts were quite similar. I only called a CLSW ID if the belly wasn't orange, the tail wasn't forked, and if I was able to see a rusty rump. My pics here are of small 24x zoom non-overlapping regions of the lake. They have between 30-90 swallows in each pic. In the far end of the lake the swallows were by far the most dense and I wasn't able to get them to show up on my pics. I was unable to get any diagnostic pics of CLSW due to general distance. 5/13/2016 Count adjusted to 800 to be conservative.

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX L330

ISO

125

Focal length

104 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.9

Shutter speed

1/125 sec

Dimensions

5152 pixels x 3864 pixels

Original file size

8.87 MB