This was my obsession this holiday.  We stayed on the top floor (5th) of an apartment block while in Ballito in the most magnificent apartment with the most stunning huge balcony… and it was just perfect to get photos of this bird.

We noticed the pair of kites a few days into the holiday.  In fact, I thought it was a hawk until Angel told me on Twitter that there were kites in the area and it was more likely to be that.  Sure enough, after searching the net for some photos, it’s a yellow-billed kite.

I discovered in the process, that I’m not a really good bird photographer, and I need a longer lens.  None of these are good enough for camera club (I don’t think), but I enjoyed trying to get that perfect shot anyway.  I took hundreds of photos of the birds.  I used my Sigma 70-300mm lens for all of them, and it was very difficult to get a sharp photo with the perfect light and getting a glint in the eye.

The birds came flying overhead every morning and afternoon.  They would stay for ages looking for food.  They’ve got quite tame too, people have started throwing food up at them.  They swoop down and catch the food in midair – most amazing to watch.  I met another photographer (with a much bigger and better lens) while we were there and he was saying that they’ve got quite fussy – they only eat chicken and wors.

This photo shows you how big the bird is.  He was swooping over Ralph and his family while they were fishing on the rocks.  Ralph tried to throw sardines for the bird to eat, but even though he swooped to get them, he clearly wasn’t interested in it and flew away. I took these from the beach while the kids were swimming.

I took all of the rest from the balcony

This last one would be my winning shot… it’s such a huge pity that I clipped his tail.