Flying kites

whistling kite flying with wings outstretched
Whistling kite flying 

And a black shouldered kite in a tree (ala Charlie Brown). Note the red eyes! Must also be jet lagged.


black shouldered kite sitting in fir tree


We do get to see several seabirds flying off the point. The black shouldered one flaps its wings while hovering. It resembles a sideways helicopter fighting to stay still. Pity whatever it sees, however!

I don't remember identifying kites on earlier trips so these are a cool addition for me. Sea eagles are pretty common but still majestic. The white belly gives away the name on this one

white bellied sea eagle in flight

Instead of developing white heads with age, these white bellied sea eagles develop white bellies. See this juvenile below:

We did manage a semi successful Wingspan game on steam! Laying eggs was pretty easy. Putting birds in habitats, not so much. If you haven't tried it yet, the board game has cool bird cards and facts. The steam game reads them to you. 

On a more personal note, we got drivers licenses! At least we will get them in the mail in a couple of weeks. No written or driving test required, thank god. Just an eye test. So we now have bank cards (in the mail), driving licences (watching spelling; in the mail) and fishing licences (on paper). I have driven 4 times now and no fatalities. Only hit the windshield wiper instead of the turn signal once yesterday.

Have also pulled off at least 7 ticks so far. Luckily no Lymes in these ticks. They seem to love me and leave me very itchy. The one that bit my ear didn't have such luck; apparently harder to inject the good stuff in the ear tissue! 

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