There are three ways to photograph a Cliff Swallow; find them at a mud hole when they are collecting building material to repair their nests(national parks and historic sites are good for this), photograph them in flight if you have good equipment, skill and most importantly luck, or photograph them at a nest site whilst hanging from a bosun's chair 500 metres above the rapids. There are questions of ethics when photographing nest sites. In principle I don't believe we should search out nest sites but if one by accident stumbles onto a nest site along the trail it might be OK to photograph the nest without disturbing the bird but never release the location of any nest site. If you flush the bird from its nest turn in your camera gear and take up another hobby or profession.

I've experimented with the 150-600mm lenses. They were all the rage a few years ago and some folks still use them. I was warned that the quality would be poor. Well, I've tried them several times in the field using the Tamron, Tokina and Sigma versions of the 150-600mm. These photos were taken with a 150-600mm lens with 1.4X extender. They provide good reach with slow auto focus and poor definition but they are excellent if you are just getting started in nature photography.

Cliff Swallow