Thousands and thousands of Black Kites are coming back from their wintering grounds in Africa. While I was visiting the spectacular Cañada de los Pájaros in the province of Seville for an upcoming interview, I spotted tens of these agile raptors circling in the sky and occasionally performing breath-taking acrobatics.

One Black Kite even landed shamelessly on the branch of a tree in the middle of the lagoon, owned by a colony of White Storks, engaged in the nest building process. But the Kite just sat down for a while without causing any harm. Also in the air the Kites didn't bother the Storks at all.

The main reason of my visit to the park was to take photos of the inhabitants of the park and to have a chat with the owners, but I couldn't ignore the spectacle that was taking place above my head. The Black Kites didn't seem in a hurry to fly further up north. They soared around in circles, sometimes descending to rest in a nearby field or on a tree. Apparently, some of them had to settle scores with their companions.





As the air duels went on and on, I found it very challenging to take sharp photos of the action, as the birds performed their breakneck stunts at very high speed. I followed one of the birds and pressed the shutter button at the moment they coincided. Doing so, I usually lost sight of the other bird and therefor I had to react in a split second.





I am not certain who was having the most fun: the birds or me. I do know that they left me speechless, wanting to run into them again soon.


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