Farewell Gift from the White-tailed Kites

The last few days have been spent checking on the White-tailed Kites' nest and looking for the male Northern Harrier again since I received two text messages from Eve saying that the male  Harrier had flown overhead as she was at the Santa Carina trail on the southeast side of San Elijo Lagoon.




As long as the White-tailed Kite nestlings are still at the nest, many photographers are at the trails near the nest tree hoping to get a good shot of a feeding or an aerial prey exchange. I had just arrived near the nest tree when all of a sudden the male adult Kite flew past with prey in his talons. He stops in the air nearby and drops his legs showing the prey and signaling for the female to come and get it. 

He dangles the prey... I'm keeping the lens on the male and not knowing where the female is.

 

It happened fast, just as I hesitated and glanced around for the female, she was right there grabbing the prey. 

 

The male watches closely to be sure that his mate has a good hold of the prey. 

 

The female grabs and prepares to transport the prey .

 The male watches every move. 

 

Appears to be checking the prey for liveliness. Probably wants to be sure it is dead when she makes the delivery to the nest. 

 

The female takes the prey to the nest but does not feed. She just drops it off and flies out. 

Just a short time passes and again the male Kite comes to the same spot but this time he is facing me... He drops his leg and signals to the female that he once again has a prey.

Wow, what an approach. The female is focused on the prey, she sets up for the grab. The male hovers and holds steady. 

 

A close up of the concentration of the female as she approaches the prey.

Putting on the brakes.

A close-up of the female putting on the brakes and getting ready to grab the prey. She chirps to let him know she is ready. 

 

The female swings both legs up and goes for the grab. 

The female's talons appear a little too close to the male's foot. There has to be complete trust between them for these aerial transfers to work smoothly.

 

The male must have quite a grip, the female is using both her talons and beak to pry the rodent off the male's talons. 

It must be a little like un-threading fishing hooks out of the prey. 

 

Got it... 

The female positions the prey for carrying and the male stays close by until she is ready to fly off with the prey. 

 

Getting a good grip.

The female flies towards the nest with the prey secured in her talons. 

She lands on the nest again and as one of the youngsters grabs and mantles it, she is ready to take off again. 

Off she goes. 

The male has another prey but this time he does not signal for an aerial prey exchange but goes straight to the nest.

 

Hovers nicely and barely lands. 

Depositing the prey on the nest he exits quickly. 

As the male flies off I follow with my camera. 

 

He is going to the new nest site! The White-tailed Kites are building another nest and it is out in the middle of the lagoon. Here is a photo of the new nest tree.

The three Kitelets are getting active and starting to exercise their wings. I think that by next week they may be starting to branch. 

 

This is amazing that the bonded pair of White-tailed Kites are already getting ready for another clutch. Today was the last we got to see of the aerial food exchange for the youngsters. Now it is just a drop off of the prey to the nest and the adults are working as fast as possible to complete the new nest. I'm sure the female will start laying her eggs very soon. 

An adult is seen breaking branches for the new nest.

And flying into the new nest with nest materials. It is exciting that this pair is working on their second nest. Getting to see the last food exchange today was quite a gift form these two wonderful raptors. Even though I did not get to see the male Northern Harrier today, the excitement of the new nest has energized me and the coming fledging of the first three youngsters is going to be quite a wonderful event to see. Now it's time for me to head for home. I will be checking on the youngsters often and hoping for some photo ops when they fledge.

Hope everyone had a great Easter Holiday. Have a beautiful weekend everyone!