Wednesday 3 October 2012

Wild Bird Wednesday 12 - Black-Shouldered Kite

I have mentioned in my comments on other peoples post that I seem to find it hard to get shots of birds of prey.  That last time I visited Wilson Prom National Park I was able to start the slow process of putting that problem to bed.

As we were walking through a path of heathland a Black-Shouldered Kite popped up onto the upper branches of a tree.  A few minutes of slow movement brought it within range of my lens.  There have been times when I have mentioned the rain in a negative sort of way - but on this occasion the heavy great sky was a real bonus. In the flat bright light of a full sun light this bird would have been a real pain to photograph - with its white feather blowing out into over-expossed highlights.  But the grey scle sky was a perfect back drop.



So, for once I'm able to post a bird of prey.  Now its your turn to link to Wild Bird Wednesday.

35 comments:

  1. he's beautiful! like you said, the gray skies were perfect.

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  2. Great shots of Black-Shouldered Kites

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  3. This is a bird of prey I have never seen, except in pictures, so you are one up on me. I am pretty sure I would have to travel a distance to find one, but for now I am pleased to see that you have had the opportunity to capture this wonderful series. Great pictures, Stewart.

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  4. congrats to your bird of prey, and a beautiful one at that. And you are right, sometimes a grey day is good. :)

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  5. Nice Pics.
    Over here in North America we have the white-tailed kite which looks very similar. In fact at one time they were all one species called the black-shouldered kite. The black-shouldered kite was broken into 3 seperate species, the white-tailed in North and South America, the Black-winged in Europe and Africa and the black-shouldered in Australia.

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  6. Nice Pics.
    Over here in North America we have the white-tailed kite which looks very similar. In fact at one time they were all one species called the black-shouldered kite. The black-shouldered kite was broken into 3 seperate species, the white-tailed in North and South America, the Black-winged in Europe and Africa and the black-shouldered in Australia.

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  7. Ah, someone who can be truly thankful for overcast skies. The kite photos turned out well!

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  8. Congratulations! Really nice shots, Stewart! That's a handsome Kite!

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  9. A beautiful bird to see Stewart... thanks for sharing.

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  10. You definitely took great advantage of the gray sky and it paid off handsomely!
    Lovely shots of the Kite Stewart!

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  11. How awesome that you spotted this Black-Shouldered Kite. I've never heard of one, much less seen one. Amazing!! Hope I can participate in WBW with something other than my trio of hummers. :)

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  12. what an exciting moment for you, he's gorgeous!!

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  13. It's quite an unusual looking bird of prey. From Findlay

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  14. What a gorgeous bird! Great captures!

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  15. Yes, dull dreary skies can be a good thing when you think otherwise. Good going on the kite.

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  16. Splendid images. It closely resembles our White-tailed Kite.

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  17. Great photo of a magnificent bird.

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  18. one of my favourites now and I love your in-flight photograph especially too Stewart; great catch!

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  19. It's beautiful!!!! I especially like the 2nd photo you shared. It's as if it's posing for you to get the most perfect side.

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  20. Stewart, the Kites are cool birds. Congrats on your sighting and the photos.

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  21. Stunning bird Stewart and you're right. That sky was perfect for such a bright bird.

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  22. What a beautiful bird!

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  23. Congratulations on the great pictures you have taken.
    I can connect to a loss to I also thought that it is difficult to photograph birds of prey, have a few good pictures of buzzard.
    Hanne Bente

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  24. Excellant job Stewart. I too am learning about grey skies, over bright sunny days! In flight birds are always a challange too.
    Have a wonderful rest of the week.

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  25. A LOVELY bird! I am a BIg FAN of in flight shots and LOVE the one you've captured :)

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  26. Well done, Stewart. Great shots of the Black-shouldered Kite!! I captured one over some cane fields a few weeks ago but it was way out of reach of my 250mm zoom and the images needed to be cropped excessively.

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  27. Great shots Stewart, a beautiful bird.

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  28. Those shots really are superb Stewart.

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  29. Those are really nice! I know what you mean about the sky washing out photos. Pure sunlight can be pretty brutal.

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  30. We saw these kites when we spent winters in Texas -- there are supposed to be some in the Everglades in Florida, but we haven't seen them yet. I love your pictures -- you definitely have some birds of prey now! And I do envy your wonderful flight shot.

    (I'm birdless today -- hope to be back to the meme soon.)

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  31. HAha! I find it hard to get good pix of ANY bird - so I tend to shout it from the rooftops when I do!! But congrats on finally cracking the bird of prey thing!!

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  32. So very nice photos of this white kite! Yes, it's tricky to get good photos of white birds, but against a grey sky it's better.

    And I have some photos of a red kite today! Among some others of course.
    Have a nice weekend! /Pia

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  33. Beautiful bird and great shots, Stewart. Lucky the sky was dark to bring out the whiteness of the bird to great effect.

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  34. Nice shots. The white plumage against the gray sky not only makes the kite more visible, but also lends it a particularly wild look.

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