This juvenile Black-shouldered Kite was so far across the grasslands that I almost didn’t press the shutter button; I’m glad I did.
Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) – juvenile with prey
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 800
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I watched a pair of young kites chasing each other around the skies and occasionally stopping to hover, surprisingly briefly, before dropping out of sight among the dry grasses. I took several photographs as the sky-play was fascinating to watch and I particularly like the rufous colouring on juveniles; adult Black-shouldered Kites have piercing red eyes rather than the brownish-orange eyes of this youngster. Although I’d been photographing the birds in flight I hadn’t seen this one dive and I didn’t know about the mouse until I uploaded the images.
The mouse has its head to one side and its mouth open, there’s even a catchlight in its left eye. It appears to be alive (though I hope not) as it has its left leg held against the kite’s talons. It looks so much like a posed shot that I think I should offer the image to the museum preparators in case they want to recreate a real-life stance for one of their exhibits.
The CSIRO has recently warned that we might be facing a mouse plague in South Australia and Victoria due to the wet spring. Grain farmers stand to be badly affected but Black-shouldered Kites will be delighted.
Happy birding
Kim
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Tremendous image Kim. That bird looks like it is “all business”.
Thanks Frank. The kite definitely has a don’t-mess-with-me look about it.
Superb shot Kim.
Thank you Joyce
Great shot! And looks like he is doing a great job with mice and hopefully rabbits.
Thanks Peter. Your comment about rabbits prompted me to do some research. It seems that BsKs eat predominantly mice or mouse-sized mammals along with some insects (which I’ve seen happen) and the very occasional rabbit (which I haven’t seen). I’ll keep an eye out for bigger raptors with rabbits 🙂
Wow, what a shot!! Very impressive!
I’m glad you like it 🙂
Super photo Kim. I’m glad you pressed the shutter. Aren’t we fortunate today to have such wonderful camera equipment that enable us to capture shots like this? Just beautiful! Love the bokeh.
We really are lucky Neil. I can’t imagine the expense of bird photography with a film camera and I love the detail we can (sometimes) capture with such sensitive sensors.
Beautiful shot. I love how the kite stands out against the background.
Thanks Thomas. You made me look specifically at the background and realise that I like the way it sets off the kite’s rufous feathers.
Having lived through a mouse plague I hope the predictions are wrong.
Stunning shot. They are such regal looking birds – even in adolescence. And yes, I hope that the mouse’s death was quick.
Commenting issues continue.
I saw a similar sight this week, the mouse plague rumours could be true! We’ve had another go at fixing the comment issues, hopefully all is working easily now. Thanks so much for letting me know EC.