It's hard not to overdo it with
the White-tailed Kite photos, but spring is when they put on
their big show.
You may even see this behavior – they fly around with legs
down, giving out an unusual "chert, chert" cry that
you hear only in spring. Often they will keep their wings above
the horizontal, beating them rapidly in a way that differs from
the hovering technique
they use while hunting.
Of course, other raptors are not welcome in the nesting area.
The redtail didn't act as if it wanted to hang around, but the
kite harassed it repeatedly...
...until it was well away from the kite's home base.
Finally, a small surprise. I thought I was getting one more
photo of the legs-down flight behavior, and only later noticed
the prey hanging down.
