Swallow and sun dogs at Newgrange

Luck, timing and persistence can sometimes combine with spectacular results. This image, showing a swallow at Síd in Broga (Newgrange), was captured through a combination of the above three things. I had intended to capture photographs and videos of the sunset at Newgrange with my drone. However, when it was in the air it attracted the attention of some swallows, who can regularly be seen in the summer months swooping over Newgrange, gorging themselves on the plentiful supply of insects, before they head south to Namibia and South Africa in the autumn. I got really lucky because this one swooped past the drone camera as I clicked the shutter. In the background, you may notice the 'sun dogs' on either side of the sun, caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice and water crystals high in the troposphere. I lowered the drone within moments as I did not want to disturb the swallows any further, and was delighted when I got home to see that this was among the images I captured.