Swallow tail kites are not a common bird in the Tampa bay area. I've only seen them once before flying high over my neighborhood. They aren't hard to spot when you see them. That forked tail and white underneath is pretty distinct. I had been reading for 2 weeks on the Bird Brains Florida forum that a large flock of them had been spotted about an hour north of Tampa. Flying over cow pastures. I finally got up early on a Saturday morning and headed up to Hernando county. I got off the main highway and headed down some dirt roads. After spotting the kestrels and loggerhead shrikes I was thinking the day would not be lost if I didn't see any. I got to the end of the road that they were suppose to be on and found them. Flying around a cow pasture far away. All of the above pictures were taken from far away and highly cropped. Except for the last one. One kite flew close to the road. The kites were flying around the cow pastures and swooping up grasshoppers to eat. They were eating them as they were flying around. It was hard to catch them heading to the ground to catch one. They were really fast. It was amazing to watch them soaring high up in the sky. It would be nice if some headed back down to Tampa to visit.
