Swallow Tailed Kite

July 13,

I believe this is a swallow tailed kite.  When mowing the bahiagrass pastures, I often see them soaring and diving as they hunt for airborne insects and small rodents stirred up by the mower.  There are a surprising number of large grasshoppers in these pastures. 

This is the first time I've seen one resting in one of the dead trees.  This tree was killed when a tornado came through here a few years ago.  I never got around to cleaning it up, probably a good thing.

July 14,

It's a day later, this morning I saw four of them soaring around together above a corner of the front field. 

July 17,

Haven't seen the kites since the last post, in spite of a lot of mowing being done.  This morning when taking the sheep out to pasture, I saw one on "their perch".  He or she flew off as the sheep and dogs went by, but came back after a few minutes. 

The 3/4 moon also managed to get in the photo.

The flock of sheep are moving in.