Golondrinas

#121

When I first moved into this house, there was some kind of nest made of mud on my front porch.  It terrified me because I was envisioning some kind of evil stinging creatures living in it.  But then the nice man who mowed my lawn that day and spoke no English told me the nest was for "golondrinas."  Lucky for me I had my Spanish speaking mother with me.  But unluckily she had never heard that word and couldn't translate it.  The man offered to knock the nest down but I told him no.  

I figured out later on that they are Barn Swallows and they make a huge poopy mess on my front porch every year.  But in exchange for that poopy mess, I get to see their beautiful little babies born each spring.  And the birds eat masses of mosquitoes and flies.  Which if you live where I do, that's an extremely valuable service they provide!

This precious little baby was kind enough to open his eyes and stretch his wings for me to get this shot.  My favorite thing about him are those huge, fuzzy, old man eyebrows!

Technical Notes:  Nikon D700, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G, ISO 6400, Focal Length 80mm, f/5.6, 1/80, Auto White Balance, Spot Metering.  In editing I had to fix the white balance.  I've realized that at the higher ISO's the color is never quite correct and I always have to adjust it in editing.  I also used a noise reduction tool on the background.