KITE NOOKY

[Marina Scarr]

The highlight of my 2013 was hands down watching and photographing this Swallow-tailed Kite pair. We witnessed all of the mating behavior, nest building, chick rearing, diet and flight school for the fledglings. The entire process lasted approx 4 months. It was a difficult shoot b/c the perch was far and high. The nest was too far away for me to shoot even with stacked converters although I did manage a few shots. The kites are actually quite gentle and modest during their hanky panky as evidenced here, and they continued to mate up to a month after the hatching of the chicks after which they were busy with flight school.

Comments and critiques are always most welcomed and much appreciated.

Canon 1D4, Canon 500L & 2.0 TC @ 1000m
F10, 1/1600sec, ISO 800, manual mode
Feisol tripod, Jobu head

[Mike Tracy]

I like all the different lines. Where the two lower half's of their bodies converge it looks exactly like a singular kites tail.

[David Salem]

What a sweet capture Marina. Love the copulation pose and the HAS on both. The exposure and the feather details look perfect also. Very nice work and look forward to seeing more from your study of these awesome and rare raptors.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Marina I am so glad you were able to cought them in their hanky panky! ha ha ha now, seriously, very good behaviour, light a tad harsh but well managed. Great details on both darks and whites.

[Grace Scalzo]

Took me a few minutes to fully appreciate this one. Good job dealing with the distance and the exposure. Looking forward to the evolution of this story.

[Henry Domke]

An image that is remarkable for it's beauty and for showing bird behavior that few every get to see.

Are the eyes tack sharp? I can't tell without seeing a full-resolution image but on these JPGs the eyes seem a little soft.

Regardless, this is a wonderful image and as Grace said "Looking forward to the evolution of this story"

[Diane Miller]

Gorgeous, and a perfect perch! Great detail in lights and darks. They sound like great parents!

[gail bisson]

This image is fun because it takes a minute to figure out who's who.
Perfect exposure in tough light.
Excellent natural history shot as well,
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Marina, well exposed on both Kites, especially the blacks. I like the full down wing position, and how both tails form a 'fork'. They both pop nicely against the blue sky. I bet you have thousands of images of their behaviour.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Definitely a great thing to have had the opportunity to witness. You did well capturing some great images as well. This one is cool for the great head angles and cool wing draping.

[arash_hazeghi]

sweet Marina! love the interaction

[Robert Kimbrell]

Nice Action shot. Good job on the exposure, as the light looks a little harsh.