Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

I've been trying for years to take a picture of a Barn Swallow to share on this blog. It has been a struggle, however, to take the portrait of a subject who regularly fidgets about at 25 to 40 miles per hour.

Pity this author no longer for I have uncovered the secret of photographing swallows. Like a paparazzo, one must skulk and seek out the swallow in his private life. Devoted readers will recall a pair of Tree Swallows that were caught copulating years ago.

Similarly, I found a mating pair of Barn Swallows last week nesting above the covered parking spot of a cabin at the Kalaloch Lodge.

Out of respect for the privacy of the minors in the brood, I did not approach to take a picture of the nest itself. The family, positioned directly above our car for the night, generously thanked me for my snooping with a bounty of fecal souvenirs.

Barn Swallows are beautiful blue birds that are most easily identified in flight by the "streamers" formed by their deeply forked tails.