Flights of fancy

(Photo by Joe Berry)

Before August 2020, if you had mentioned flying kites to me, it would have summoned memories of the windy March days of my childhood, grasping a ball of twine with a paper kite on the other end high in the air.

On that hot August day in 2020, I will never forget, while I was on my way home from work, I came upon a flock of birds that I had only seen a pair of before. This flock of dozens of birds was circling as buzzards do, but they were much smaller than buzzards. And as I observed their flight, I noticed that one would dive down occasionally and then return back up into the pattern. I rushed home to get my camera, but when I returned thirty minutes later, they were gone.

The next day on my commute, I had the same encounter, but this time my loving wife Ginger went to get my camera as I stayed with the flock. So, I got pictures of these mystery birds and discovered two different larger birds feeding with them. They were a two-tone black and white near osprey-sized bird. This pair flew slower and more gracefully than the other smaller birds, the most gracefully flying bird I’ve seen.

(Photo by Joe Berry)

From my pictures, I saw that when the birds were diving down and going back into the flight pattern, they were catching large insects and feeding on them in mid-air. I had never seen this before. This also caused me to notice that there was an unusually large number of grasshoppers on the hayfields. The black and white birds were doing graceful aerial acrobatics to get the grasshoppers off of the grass blades.

(Photo by Joe Berry)

It was a quick identification of the birds by asking on Facebook: They were Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites.

I found pictures of the beautiful Swallow-tailed Kites in an article telling of a farm in south Georgia that welcomed photographers to come when the birds ventured up from Florida.

I put that trip on my bucket list.

Graceful acrobatics

The next summer, I was walking my dogs and noticed at a distance a group of about a dozen large birds doing the “graceful aerial acrobatics” and knew at once that the Lord had blessed me with a visit from Florida.

I rushed home and got my camera to get that item off my bucket list. I got several great pictures but missed many without the skills that a seasoned BIF (“Bird in Flight”) photographer has. The glass (lens) that I had was great, but I needed a more advanced camera body to supplement my skills for this type of photography. I saved for the next year and paid more than I can believe for a full-frame mirrorless camera.

I had my new camera two weeks before the Kite’s arrival last year, and you got to see some of my pictures in a story on Swallow-tailed Kites here on Now Habersham.

(Photo by Joe Berry)
(Photo by Joe Berry)

For the last four summers, I have enjoyed the visits of the two birds to northeast Georgia that I had mostly only seen on YouTube videos before. Each time I find them, the number of large insects is huge. I learned in the Georgia Master Naturalist class that the birds follow the food. I believe that the climate changes that we have seen in recent years have changed the insect movement patterns and brought us these beautiful visitors.

The Mississippi Kite nesting range reaches into Georgia, most of the southeastern states, and further north along the Mississippi River. In my recent encounters with them, I saw more swift acrobatics, including barrel rolls that would end in a dive, sometimes nearing the ground before pulling up. They add dragonflies to the list of prey, along with grasshoppers and June bugs.

(Photo by Joe Berry)

Season winding down

The season is winding down for the year as I write this. If you enjoy the pictures seen here, then plan on getting out in the heat next August and seeing these beautiful birds in flight. It’s a sight to see and never forget.

To know where the birds are located exactly, search for eBird’s “Georgia Rare Bird Alert” website, and you can monitor their progress from Florida to your area. When they get close enough for a day trip, be sure to plan ahead. Take lots of fluids to stay hydrated and sunscreen. Get permission to be on the property, do not trespass. Also, get permission to park your vehicle in a safe location off the road. Many times I wind up on the sides of country roads to get my pictures. Please use caution when you get to the birds. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment of a great shoot and lose your attention to your location near lanes for traffic. Be vigilant not to loiter in the roadway.

If you want to join the photographers, then do your research on “Bird in Flight” photography and buy the best that you can truly afford.

Whatever you do, enjoy the outdoors and thank the good Lord that you live where you can and have good health to do so.

READ MORE about naturalist and new Now Hab columnist Joe Berry