The Swallows of Happy Jack Lodge

On August 22nd I was out birding near the sewage pond at Happy Jack lodge. I noticed a flock of swallows perched on the barbed wire and flying through the air, that was when I knew I had a mission, to photograph the swallows of Happy Jack! However, the Purple Martins did not want to take part in my swallow pursuit. The most abundant of the swallows would either be the Tree or Violet-green.
                       Three Violet-green Swallows on the right and three Tree Swallows on the left

It was awesome getting to photograph these two species side by side!

Here are a few photos of Tree and Violet-green Swallows.
                                                              Violet-green Swallow

note the white goes above the eye, a key identification mark for all plumages.

                 
                                                                   Tree Swallow

While I was trying to get the best photos I could I saw a young Barn Swallow begging for food and that was my chance to get some crushes!

I slowly crawled over to the bird and camped out in that spot for about half an hour, observing and photographing this family of Barn Swallows.

Even when the parents took a brake from feeding their young gremlin I was still taking photos!

While I was watching the youngster I noticed a Bank Swallow had come in to take a brake from feeding.

This is the first time I have been able to photograph the Bank Swallow, so I was pumped!!!

Here is a photo of the Bank Swallow with a Tree Swallow on the left.

As you can see the Bank Swallow liked hanging out with the other swallows but in the upcoming photo you can see the swallow had a big mouth!

One of the swallows which I saw very briefly was this Northern Rough-winged Swallow, a bird I only saw once, before it flew off.

I had an awesome time getting to observe and photograph these five species of swallow, one of the Violet-greens let me get within a foot or two from him before he took flight , it was AMAZING!! And with that this concludes my "Swallows of Happy Jack Lodge".