Swallow-tailed Kite Storm

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Noah M
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Joined: November 3rd, 2012, 7:00 pm
Location: Gainesville, FL
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Swallow-tailed Kite Storm

Post by Noah M »

So I know these are not herps, but I thought I would share this with all of you anyway. Today, this morning, my wife and I were heading out to explore some of the counties west of here, and check out a spring or something. Just gettin' out of the house really. We were cruisin' down the 2-lane when we saw a couple of kites in the sky. The trees cleared away and in a field to our right were several dozen swallow-tail kites swarming around. I've never seen them in such numbers! I read they congregate here in July before they migrate to South America.

Here are a few of my better pictures.

These are big pictures, and believe it or not, a few were cropped out of this. Here is the main 'cloud' of 'em.
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Here are some pictures of individuals that got a bit closer to us.

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And I'm particularly fond of this picture, with the kite eating while flying.
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My wife spotted this enormous spider by a pond on a hike. I'm guessing a type of fishing spider.
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And other than some toads, the only herp photographed throughout the day was this tortoise we saved by getting it off of a busy highway.

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soulsurvivor
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:09 am
Location: NE Florida
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Re: Swallow-tailed Kite Storm

Post by soulsurvivor »

Wow, that's a lot of kites! Don't think I've seen more than 4 or 5 at once.
Carl D. May
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Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 4:17 am

Re: Swallow-tailed Kite Storm

Post by Carl D. May »

AWESOME encounter! Those are one of my favorite birds to see.

The gopher tortoise is of special interest because of the split scute on the front of the carapace. Supernumerary scutes, split scutes and other temperature (?) induced shell deformities may be a result of the female gophers nesting on the bib of their home burrow where there is often little vegetation to shade to nest site. It is believed that the higher incubation temps result in the scute anomalies.
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pete
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Re: Swallow-tailed Kite Storm

Post by pete »

That is an amazing sighting! I've seen Mississippi kites in large groups but have neve heard of swallowtails doing it.
Too cool!
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mtratcliffe
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Joined: January 19th, 2014, 4:34 pm
Location: Mt Laurel, NJ

Re: Swallow-tailed Kite Storm

Post by mtratcliffe »

That's a lot of kites! My wife and I went to a nature preserve yesterday and saw two ourselves, but only from a distance.
Coluber Constrictor
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:25 am
Location: Mobile, AL

Re: Swallow-tailed Kite Storm

Post by Coluber Constrictor »

I have not seen a swallowtail kite in about a year, but the Mississippi kites have been all over the place this year, even in midtown Mobile. I saw one snatch a chimney swift out of the air the other day. :shock: Fun birds to watch.
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