![Swallow-tailed kite / Artur Pedziwilk ©](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20170126222336im_/https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_4/NWRS/Zone_2/Lower_Suwannee_Complex/Lower_Suwannee/Images/Pers-Promo-Kite-194-x-116-Artur-Pedziwilk.jpg)
Spring time is the best season for birding here. A few straggling migratory birds stay for the warm weather and can be found all over the Lower Suwannee: at observation decks, in the forest, along the shoreline and in their nests. In late March and early April, everyone looks to the sky for the first swallow-tail kite returning from South
America. They only stay until
late August, so the spectacular glimpses of their flight are highly valued. They can be seen soaring above the canopy of
trees or over hay fields as they swoop after grasshoppers. The Refuge offers
perfect habitat for them – tall pines near swampy areas where predatory owls don’t
care to visit. Ospreys, bald eagles, and white pelicans can be seen from the Shell Mound area.