![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/barn-swallow-0439b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"barn-swallow-0439b-ron-dudley\\"")
1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\nThere isn’t a lot I need to say about the behavior here, what’s going on is pretty obvious – the adult\u00a0is feeding an insect to its youngster (photo taken three years ago at Bear River MBR). Over a period of perhaps 10 minutes I was able to get a variety of shots of the feeding behavior but I thought this one was extra interesting because of how far down the throat the adult stuffed the bug – dang near to the toes of the fledgling.<\/p>\n
Birds of North America Online says that while Barn Swallow chicks are still in the nest “those that open mouth widest and reach forward farthest are fed” most often so perhaps this youngster opened its beak as far as it did out of habit. And the adult filled the available void with\u00a0a\u00a0good portion\u00a0of its head.<\/p>\n
Part of the reason I think this image works well is the complete separation of the birds except where their heads meet.<\/p>\n
I never published this photo before because the lighting this late in the morning (10:09) in August\u00a0was already harsh and there was too much contrast in the image for my tastes. But last night I played with it a little and I think I came up with an acceptable version. It still might appear a little dark but when I increased exposure during processing (both selectively and globally) the colors of the birds didn’t look natural to me\u00a0so I went\u00a0with this version that has only a slight exposure adjustment.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
PS – I certainly hope no one was offended by my title reference because of its original\u00a0crude (for lack of a better word)\u00a0origin.\u00a0But after all, if\u00a0‘Deep Throat’\u00a0is acceptable\u00a0in the context of\u00a0Woodward and Bernstein and the Washington Post during the Watergate Scandal\u00a0it should be perfectly OK for me to use\u00a0here. Bob Woodward and Carl\u00a0Bernstein are near-heroes in my book.\u00a0I think we\u00a0need more like them, especially now when folks like them are being unjustly\u00a0vilified.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An adult in flight feeding one of its fledglings. And let’s just say it’s being done enthusiastically by both participants.<\/p>\n