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| Swallow-Tailed Kite |
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| KITE-FLYING AUDUBON STYLE
On a very hot and muggy July afternoon, when the heated air drifted upward from the ground in spiraling thermals, a group of Ogeechee Audubon birders convened at a hay field in a remote part of Rincon. They were there for kites -- the Swallow-tailed and Mississippi types, not the paper ones.
They were rewarded with great views of both species soaring and swooping for insect prey over the field. These aerial acrobats were chowing down on flying beetles, dragonflies and other airborne insects. Their prey was caught mid-air and consumed on the wing with graceful, almost balletic, ease. The kites will continue to fatten up through mid-August before departing on a long southbound migration for the winter.
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