WHITE-TAILED KITE

BACK IN 1964, a group of citizens of Bodega Bay, California were successful in blocking a plan to build a nuclear plant there. The one remnant is an abandoned pit dug for the nuke’s foundation, now called “Hole in the Head,” near where this picture was taken. I don’t know how well White-tailed Kites and other wildlife would have survived a nuclear facility. I do know this: On the day my friend Walter (a magnificent photographer) drove me out to Bodega Head, we rounded the north shore of the bay and saw loons, egrets, brants, various shorebirds, and an osprey.

Once on the headland trail, I spotted this White-Tailed Kite, a well-named bird since they are often found on windy grasslands perfect for flying a kite. The wind off the Pacific was certainly strong that January day, challenging my ability to hold the camera steady. We arrived near dusk and there were two of the kites—or so I thought—hunting in the brown grass below the trail. Abutting the grass were shrubs where the birds occasionally landed. When they flew, I sometimes had to point the lens straight up. Hunting kites cruise up to 80 feet above the ground, head down, scanning for movement. They hover and then quickly strike their prey, feet down, wings up, as you see here.

I was not entirely wrong to think a pair of kites might be seen together. During the nonbreeding season, a hundred or more sometimes roost together (called a brood, or kettle, or string of kites). But when I returned home and uploaded my pictures, I realized the second white bird was actually a male Northern Harrier. Not exactly a Blow-up movie moment, but a nice surprise nonetheless.

Nikon D500, 500mm lens, 1/1,250 sec @ f8, ISO 140

Preorder the second edition of Aves and receive a TEN PERCENT DISCOUNT until February 15. Books and prints will ship at the end of February. The photo above is in the book.

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Happy birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr.!

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