It Takes a Lot of Grasshoppers to Fill My Crop (Birds of Prey with Prey)

AlwaysBirding

Our friend Matt was looking for fluddles in NE Ottawa Co. on August 16, 2023, and came upon a Swallow-tailed Kite coursing over a soybean field. We were lucky on our second trip there on August 17th to see it having missed it on August 16th. It flew over the field, dipping occasionally down into the soybeans and back up again. It flew over the fields and over our heads for about 45 minutes before it left for the night around 5:15 PM. It was not seen in Ottawa County again by any birders. This was the first Ottawa County record and a lifer for Matt.

Look closely at the tip of the beak. There is a grasshopper clasped there.