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.
I'm still very cautious as to how much you can really trust what are ultimately such bad images....But overall there do appear to be relevant Pallid features.
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| Original just cropped and lightened. Overall paler brown colouration compared to Common Swift and contrasting dark "alien" eye. |
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| Collage of all photos taken. Only heavily cropped and lightened. |
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| Sharpened image. Note contrasting dark eye, extensive pale throat patch and larger bill. |
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