A Tale of Two Kites -- Chapter 1: Kite and Nest
From October to November 2000, some raptors often flew around a certain tree on a hill. Perhaps they are building a nest.
Unfortunately, there were some surveying works on two separate sites of the hill shortly afterwards. The drilling machines the workers used were so loud, they scared a lot of the birds away. The drilling lasted for half a month. They left a barren land about 10 square metres on the hill. The raptors rarely visited the site since then.
In January 2001, I saw some white stuff hanging on a pine tree on that hill. It shone brilliantly in the sun. It looked like a white plastic bag. I thought, who could possibly hang a bag on a treetop?
After a while, I saw two raptors flying to and from the hill with branches and other things. One of them was larger. The birds left their ‘cargo’ on a large branch of the pine tree. Sometimes they carried twigs that are longer than their wingspans. Apparently they were building a nest.
The pair built the nest with many different materials. They used branches, white tissue paper, Styrofoam, white plastic bags, etc. For some reasons they loved to use white things. At first they hung a lot of garbage on the branches around the nest. These were removed after they finished building.
The finished nest was partly covered by the tree. It was a bit larger than the raptors’ bodies, with a diameter of about 60 cm. It was easily seen from afar as there was white stuff inside the nest (the garbage they used to build the nest). The top of the pine tree was covered by vines.
After investigations, I identified the pair of raptors as Black Kites (Milvus migrans). I continued to observe and photograph them for four years until I moved away from that area. I decided to write this blog so that I can share the natural history of the pair as well as my experience and joy of watching them with you.
Etta 02-10-2001
Note:
All observations and photographs were taken from the window of my house. There was a substantial distance between my site and the breeding Black Kites. No disturbances to the birds were noted.
