Swallow-tailed Kite - Luther Marsh!

On Sunday night I saw the reports that a Swallow-tailed Kite had been seen at Luther Marsh in Dufferin County earlier in the day.  Apparently this mega-rare bird from the Gulf Coast has been kicking around in the area for a couple of weeks without the broader bird community being alerted!  

On Monday morning Cait and made the short drive to Luther to see if we could find this bird.  Upon arriving, other birders pointed out the bird perched in a shrub way out in a field to the east of the road.  The bird soon graced us with some views of it flying before perching again.  Unfortunately it stayed quite far out (even for my new telephoto lens).  I did get some documentation shots of it.  This is just the 2nd one I've seen in Ontario.

Swallow-tailed Kite forage mostly on aerial insects (mostly dragonflies) but will also apaprently pluck lizards or snakes from tree tops.

Sandhill Cranes were also a nice bonus to see, and this one flew by fairly close!