Monday, April 28, 2014

Swallow-tailed Kite

We had a very pleasant surprise at the banding site today. If you aren't checking that site for our weekly discoveries I will sum up.

Every year there are several Swallow-tailed Kites seen soaring overhead at Lake Lotus. They are more and more common in the area now and we know of breeding sites as close as Wekiwa Springs. Not long ago we had a few fly in and then got some shots of them landing over our banding table to copulate and then fly off to a pine tree nearby. We were hoping they would nest here and it appears that they did build a nest just 50 yards behind us. Problem is, you can't really get a good look at them from that angle.

Then, as we were walking the net lanes, we spotted a nice bright black and white male sitting just across the river against a beautiful blue sky. Best views of this bird at rest for me. Ever.

Swallow-tailed Kite

He sat and preened a while as many of us got supreme photos before he headed back out to gather food and nest material for his girl up at the nest. If they are successful, we should be seeing some young birds sometime before Summer. Nice!

1 comment:

Allison Miller said...

Nice! I love seeing the kites in the wild.