Article and Photography by Cynthia Hedgecock, Field Contributor

I am fascinated by pelicans. Watching their incredible plunge diving is as exciting to me as watching the Blue Angels flying team, and much quieter. Their awesome ability to skim just inches above the waves and water, seemingly forever, is mesmerizing. But in years of watching pelicans, I had neither heard of nor seen stalking behavior.

“Certainly it can’t be done. Swallows are so fast and agile, certainly I wouldn’t be able to photograph them flying without sophisticated camera traps and high-speed flash equipment.” This is what I would say to myself about the issue of trying to photograph swallows in flight.