These Chaetura swifts were found feeding and drinking in the vicinity of the pond at Comanche Park and nearby baseball field (I20 & H385) Odessa, Ector county, Texas, on December 10, 2016, and again following day.
They were first detected on our arrival at Comanche Park at 3:30pm, and four individuals plus two Cave Swallows were observed and photographed over the next 7 minutes. All 6 birds drifted off to the west at c. 3:37pm, then after c. 5 minutes a lone bird appeared for about one minute before it drifted off to the east.
The following morning we checked the park c. 7:30-ish, and did not see any swifts in the c. 40 minutes we were present. Later in the morning after we had left the location, Greg Cook, Blaine Carnes and Steve Glover arrived at Comanche Park, and after some searching spotted one swift feeding on the north side of the freeway. They moved to that area and observed/photographed the bird for some time. They called us and then left to visit another local site. We returned to the location and met them c. midday. At c. 12:15pm Steve spotted two swifts in the distance over the baseball park north of the freeway. We all relocated to that area, but the birds kept drifting eastward, away from us, as we tried to get closer. We all had distant views, and I managed a few distant photos.
I present here some photos of the birds. During the first encounter I was trying to photograph any of the 4 swifts that I could track with my camera, and thus it is impossible to know which specific individuals are pictured in the photos, except that for some "bursts" of photos the specific time stamp and composition have allowed me to be sure that a series of images were of the same bird. I have constructed a collage for each of these discrete sets of photos. They are presented in chronological order, using the date-time stamp of the first image for that individual. NOTE: with one exception I cannot suggest which sets of images are of the same individual.
THE PHOTOS HAVE NOT BEEN ADJUSTED IN ANY WAY (OTHER THAN CROPPING) - THIS IS HOW THEY LOOK STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAMERA.
1) First encounter: 4 individuals over 7 minutes:-
Dec 10 - 3:30:59pm
Dec 10 - 3:31:13pm
Dec 10 - 3:32:07pm
Dec 10 - 3:32:17pm
Dec 10 - 3:33:09pm
Dec 10 - 3:34:39pm
Dec 10 - 3:36:09pm - I think that this may be the same individual at at 3:34:39 above. Note how the angle to the sun dramatically changes the perceived tones...
Dec 10 - 3:36:31pm
2) Second encounter: 1 individual over 1 minute:-
Dec 10 - 3:42:41pm
CLICK HERE to see a short bouncy video of this individual - PART 1.
CLICK HERE to see a short bouncy video of this individual - PART 2.
CLICK HERE to see another video of this individual - at three speeds: real-time; slow-motion; super slow-motion - PART 3.
CLICK HERE to see another video of this individual - at two speeds: real-time and slow-motion - PART 4.
CLICK HERE to see another video of this individual - at two speeds: real-time and super slow-motion - PART 5
3) Third encounter: 2 individuals over 12 minutes:-
Dec 11 - 12:28:03pm
CLICK HERE to see a short bouncy video of one of these two individuals.
