Black-winged Kite - Elanus caeruleus
The last few shots from my Indian Bangalore Bird Bonanza at the end of last month. This is small quite compact Kite - more the size of a Kestrel than a Buzzard.Watching telegraph or telephone wires is always a good strategy when you are birding. Something will turn up every kilometre or so down a road.
My excitement is at fever pitch as its (count them) just 19 days until the family head off to Tanzania. I am drooling over East African field guides and spending lunchtimes at work reading blogs by safari goers, naturalists, the odd birder (not so many sites that I can find). I am starting to build up a picture of what I might see in the Serengetti. It should catapult the site way up beyond the 200 mark - perhaps even to 300. There are some beautiful looking birds to chase. I need to remember that we are there for the rhinos and cheetahs as well. It will be good to just get out under some big skies with green grass. The Summer heat is here now and I do not feel much like chasing out for birds in 40 degree heat.
I remember the excitement of driving to Woburn Abbey or Whipsenade when I was small or for my boys Knowelsy in the North West. Its hard to realise that I have only seen some of these beuatiful creatures behind bars or in a zoo. I will put up a page of Safari views on my return as well as the birds. I almost do not now want the day to arrive as I have been waiting for several months and I know its going to pass in a blur when it comes. Maybe thats not true - I had the experience in Sri Lanka in the Yala NP that time slowed down - 48 hours was a lifetime - especially when you are getting up at 6 am to get the best of the viewing. I hope I can get in the zone and just let the days wash past and soak every bird, bug and beast.
And we need to go back to India for a better picture of a Black-winged Kite. The last few shots I will put up from Karnataka will probably not be my best !
Black-winged Kite, Elanus caeruleus
Karnataka, India
25 May 2012
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