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Judging by the number of posts from Southern California folks, we can tell that there must be some activities locally. We had peregrine falcons, red fox, burrowing owls and now there is a pair of white-tailed kites that is raising and feeding their chicks. Photographers flock to witness and photograph their activities. There were some 30 photographers and several FMers last Thursday. I was there 3 times already this season and I plan to go back again for some more actions. They are addicting...
The male kite hunts for mouse/voles in nearby grassy fields while the female stays behind not too far away from the nest. She safeguards the nest and keeps an eye on him. Apparently he sends a signal when he is on the way back from the hunt and the female then flies towards him. And the male transfers the food to her; either mid-air or tree side. Sometimes, although they do a mid-air food transfer, some tall trees can hide the action. In a time span of 3 hours or so, the male goes several times hunting. Towards the end of the day, the male eats the last catch. Screw the family .
On the second day, we got a special treat! The female that came from below missed the food the first time around and she turned around and approached him again. The second time around she scored! So, in this sequence we got a food transfer attempt and a successful food transfer. Somehow, I felt that they tried to make up for the tree-side transfer they did on the first day . As an added bonus, it took place fairly late in the afternoon as the lighting got a tad softer and a little warmer.
Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave any feedback,
Joshua
louie champan wrote:
Superb set Joshua, incredible job.
Louie, I appreciate your kind words!
Dave_E wrote:
Joshua your captures are amazing. Those are steady hands you have. They are like looking at a slow motion video frozen in time.
Dave
Dave, thank you very much for your kind words. Although I technically handheld the gear but I used my own camera support. For my age, I need all the help I could get.
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. As an added bonus, it took place fairly late in the afternoon as the lighting got a tad softer and a little warmer.
