Having returned from 2 weeks in Namibia yesterday, I was looking forward to visiting the patch and headed down there late afternoon after having arrived into Heathrow very early morning. I decided to just take my bins and no camera - Big mistake! At around 3.20pm I picked up a distant Common / Pallid Swift being mobbed by a Crow! The light was appalling.
I took a gamble and quickly drove home to grab my camera and just hoped I could relocate it. I called Rick to see if he was around, but he was not nearby. Luckily, on my return, I picked up the Swift again twice at 4pm and 4.20pm, but I failed to see it well or close and never managed any photos. So I headed out again this morning in the hope it roosted nearby and at around 07.50 I found it in the same area and managed a very poor photo! I saw it again at 10am, but always distant and that was the final sighting, despite a few local birders looking throughout the morning.
Below is the best effort of any photo I managed to get and despite showing what appear to be some Pallid-like features and with such a big national influx in recent weeks, it's clearly not that unlikely.
However, I'm still exceedingly cautious as to how much you can really trust what is ultimately such a bad image....
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| Original just cropped and lightened. Overall paler brown colouration and contrasting dark eye. |
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| Sharpened image. Dark eye and extensive throat patch and larger bill. |
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