A nice surprise

While photographing Snail Kites picking snails and returning to a small island, we were totally surprised by a male landing very close to the boat. After the male left we went back to photographing the birds as they flew by, with an occasional (distant) perched shot. I was very excited about what we had just witnessed, and was thinking it just couldn’t get any better. I was wrong! Within a few minutes we had a female landing in the same place as the male. What a day!
We are seeing good numbers of these birds this year. Snail Kites feed almost exclusively on apple snails, which is what this female has. There are several invasive species of apple snail, which are more difficult for Kites to eat, especially the young birds. The Florida apple snail, pictured here, is smaller and much easier for the Kites to harvest the meat from. These birds have been on the endangered species list (Locally, U.S) since 1967, due to the reduction of habitat (Everglades), and the number of Florida apple snails. The population of Snail Kites declined from about 3,500 to about 700 from 1999 through 2008. The bird has bounced back to about 1,700 birds in 2014, mostly in the lake habitats to the north of the Everglades. This shot was taken in a central florida lake

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