Checking in on the Swallow-tailed Kites

My son and I finished banding raptors as noted in the previous post and I wanted to go by our banding site to check on the new Swallow-tailed Kites at Lake Lotus. Hey, it was on the way home, so why not?

We arrived at the site and headed through the gate and we were quickly greeted by another critter with a Swallowtail but it was a butterfly. A beautiful Tiger Swallowtail.



Nearing the banding table we could hear the call of an adult Swallow-tailed Kite. He was soaring in quickly and landed at the nest, probably with some food, and then sped off again. It took a couple minutes to get Patrick in the proper spot to see the nest. I mentioned earlier that there is only one exact spot to see the nest and that spot is just below the banding table. He found it and we both took some photos.

Up in the nest was one of the juveniles. You can just make out the tan coloring on the feathers of a younger bird.



We will have to come back out to do some weeding soon and hopefully we can get some better views of the young. So glad we have access to witness this brood growing up.