Featured Photo #3 -- American Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus)
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Nikon
F5 camera Nikkor AF 500mm lens Matrix metering, aperture priority, plus 1/3 stop exposure compensation for more detail under wings. Exposure was around 1/500 sec., f/5.6 We were photographing wading birds in one of the ponds at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, South Florida, when several swallow-tailed kites started to circle overhead. I had seen these distinctive birds here before, but they were always flying too high to photograph. On this day, we were at the right place, at the right time. The kites were gathering twigs for nesting material, and were targeting some tall trees surrounding our pond. From their soaring orbits they would dive toward the tree tops, break off dead twigs with their talons, and glide away in almost continuous motion. As they circled to gain height one of them flew right over our heads clutching a twig trailing Spanish Moss. |
