Milne Dam Conservation Park- after a long day

[Ally]

I was trying to catch this swallow in flight, talking about mission impossible. He then perched and got a long stretch.

[Shortsighted]

When swallows perch to rest, even outside of Capistrano, they often use the same few perches
over and over again so you can determine where those perches are located after watching them for a while.
I reckon your swallow is a Rough-winged Swallow and you are quite right that photographing them in flight
is a rough endevour. Keep trying and it will happen, although you may be exhausted by then. Just do it
out in the open so you can pan rapidly without smacking your monster lens against a tree or another person's
precious lens. That happens too.

[Ally]

When swallows perch to rest, even outside of Capistrano, they often use the same few perches
over and over again so you can determine where those perches are located after watching them for a while.
I reckon your swallow is a Rough-winged Swallow and you are quite right that photographing them in flight
is a rough endevour. Keep trying and it will happen, although you may be exhausted by then. Just do it
out in the open so you can pan rapidly without smacking your monster lens against a tree or another person's
precious lens. That happens too.

I got some!

[Shortsighted]

It doesn't get any easier but it is paying off. The shot with the swallow close to the ground
with its own shadow in the picture is very good indeed. Now, if that shadow was of a raptor
implied to be just out of the picture's borders that would be .... well, probably impossible.
Still, getting these shots with a 500mm lens is cool. If I wasn't so lazy I might try it again
myself.