I went out to check on the grill tonight and looked up to see some White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus) flying overhead. If you've been following this blog for a while, you might recall that in some years we've seen kites roosting in our neighborhood. We haven't seen this roosting activity in a while, but maybe this will be one of those years?
Around 7 p.m., there were several young kites flying east to west. Here's a close-up showing the rust-colored feathers across the breast:
I was also somewhat surprised to see a darker looking raptor around the same time. When I saw it out of the corner of my eye, I could tell it wasn't a kite, but I wasn't sure about the i.d. I only had my camera (no binoculars), so I took a couple of quick shots.
I think this is the first time I've photographed a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) flying over our house in Cotati (see below).
A fun few minutes in the backyard —
and I'm lucky I didn't burn the fish!
P.S. To see more photos of kites coming to roost in our neighborhood in previous years, you can search for "kite" or "kite roost" in the search box at the very bottom of the NHBH website.
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