03/12/2026
This Mississippi Kite and its mate have returned to a nest in my neighbor's yard. It's roughly 30 feet up. The male showed up first, restoring it 2 weeks ago. The female is now sitting in it.
I have been shooting them for the past week and a half. It has been challenging. This shot was captured one morning last week. You'll notice the nest is mostly pine branches and needles. I have over two hundred images to review. This is one of the first.
The Mississippi Kite is a bird of prey that is about the size of a falcon, smaller than a hawk but larger than a crow. I hope one of my images shows them with prey. They are native to most of the SE USA, but do come here as well. In the spring, I can spot up to 8 of them riding the thermal updrafts at a time.
More pics to follow.
Nikon D850 with an AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm 5.6 ED lens at 320mm, F/11, 1/400s, ISO 200. I experimented with several different exposures and fixed apertures for birds in flight
