Small but swift

 

Just a quick post to document Vaux's Swift (Chaetura vauxi) at Bodega Head on 8 September 2015.  They're considered an uncommon migrant here.  This is the first time I've managed to photograph them.

This is a small swift — the smallest in North America — at about ~11 cm (~4.5 inches) long.  

Above, and below, note the paler throat and upper breast:

 

The next picture is a silhouette, but you can see the spines on the tips of the tail feathers — used for support when perching vertically.

 

Now I can only hope to photograph a Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) on Bodega Head!  (There are only two records for Black Swift on Bodega Head, from 1977 and 1980.)