Brahminy Kite or, In-Flight Snack

[Chrisclick]

Had the good fortune to capture these shots on Tuesday. I had been keeping my eye on a pair of kites from afar, hoping that they would come closer. I gave up all hope of a good shot when they decided to fly far from where we were. Later that afternoon, we had gone to another location nearly 10 kilometres away when I noticed a single kite hovering above rocks at the shoreline. Suffice it to say, that after some running and a lot of huffing and puffing on my part, I was able to grab these shots.

This bird was steadily hovering against a very stiff breeze, maintaining his/her location and altitude for several minutes at a time. Just prior to taking the shots, he/she dropped down onto the rocks and returned to the same hovering position with a crab in its talons. I couldn't believe my luck (or my eyes), when, remaining perfectly still against the breeze, it began eating the crab!

I was almost directly under the bird in the first shot, so close that it filled the frame. I was concerned that it might have been a touch too close for the minimum focussing distance of my lens (3.5 meters). Luckily, not so.

Brahminy Kite 1 by Chrisclick, on Flickr

Brahminy Kite 3c by Chrisclick, on Flickr

CC always welcome.

[Ziggy]

Nice captures and that is very surprising that he is eating it while in the air.

[Dave A]

Excellent capture.....it was your day.

Dave

[Donald]

Good shots indeed. And to capture that behaviour of eating whilst at the hover, that is just wonderful. I don't know how rare that is or how much it has been observed, but I'm wondering if some specialist bird magazine or online site might be very interested in that image.

[John 2]

Just excellent, both of them.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Geoff F]

This has worked well.

Maybe the crab was struggling and there was a possibility of it being dropped?

[Chrisclick]

Nice captures and that is very surprising that he is eating it while in the air.

Thanks for looking, Jim. Yes, as Donald mentioned, it may be of interest to someone or, some group.

[Chrisclick]

Excellent capture.....it was your day.

Dave

Yes, a bit of luck, Dave. I feel as if I earned it though - all that running and praying!

[Chrisclick]

Good shots indeed. And to capture that behaviour of eating whilst at the hover, that is just wonderful. I don't know how rare that is or how much it has been observed, but I'm wondering if some specialist bird magazine or online site might be very interested in that image.

Many thanks, Donald. There is an Australian Raptor group that I have located online, I have emailed and awaiting a reply. I haven't sent the photo to them yet. Rather, I just asked if they were aware of the behaviour.

Thanks again.

[Chrisclick]

Just excellent, both of them.

Thank you, John. I appreciate you dropping-by for a look.

[Chrisclick]

Nicely done.

Thanks John!

[Chrisclick]

This has worked well.

Maybe the crab was struggling and there was a possibility of it being dropped?

Thanks Geoff. I don't think there was much possibility of the crab getting loose. Those talons are awesome! I got the feeling that the kite was quite used to crab for lunch.

Thanks again, I appreciate it!

[IzzieK]

What a catch, Chris! Everything is just very sharp, including the talons and it is a rare shot. I have not seen any similar even here at CiC. 'Would be nice to see the EXIF...

[deetheturk]

Wonderful images Chris, well worth all your exertions

[Chrisclick]

....... 'Would be nice to see the EXIF...

Thanks Izzie, I give full credit to my gear: Canon EOS 7D Mkii, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L and, a little PS skill. Glad you like them!

Here's the EXIF for both, as far as I can see, they are identical, except for the time stamp - 12 seconds between the shots:

[Chrisclick]

Wonderful images Chris, well worth all your exertions

Thank you, David. Appreciate you commenting.

[DEAN01]

Chris, the second image is spectacular.

[bnnrcn]

Both very nice

[IzzieK]

Thanks Chris..that is very helpful when I configure my settings again for my bird shots when I have another chance at it...