Monday, December 27, 2010

Square-tailed Kite

A few weeks ago I found out about a pair of Square-tailed Kites nesting in the Adelaide Hills. Square-tailed Kite is a rare breeding bird in South Australia and I was looking forward to seeing a bird I haven't seen for 5 years. I hadn't had a chance to go and see them until today. I was hoping that the chicks hadn't fledged, as that would have made the birds much more difficult to find. When I arrived at the site, there was another birder there. He had seen the kites before, so could show me the nest location. One of the adults was at the nest, and we watched for a while but there was no sign of the chicks. After a while the adult flew off, and I managed a quick shot against the bright sky. When the adult returned, it flew to a tree about 50m (50 yards) away. I headed over to see if I could get a couple of photos, and found her (?) perched next to a fully grown chick! She had some prey in her talons (it looked like a small bird) and was using it to encourage the chick to fly. The chick wasn't at all interested, though it did try a few wing stretches, before resorting to begging for food.

2 comments:

  1. These are great images and so glad that you were able to track them down. Very special!

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  2. Wow! Impressive! That shot from below almost looks lke a northern harrier here in the states!

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