But with downtime on her hands and an eye for detail, she couldn't resist the unique birds that started appearing on her property on Goulburn's southwestern outskirts in NSW's Southern Tablelands in June.

In a series of shots on her trusty Nikon D750 she captured two black shouldered Kites, mid-air, passing a rat.

"The female has turned upside down and grabbed the rat from the male bird," Ms Mace said.

"This is part of their courting ritual as they are a breeding pair and are currently building a nest in the top of a live pine tree high up on the hill behind our house, about 200 metres away, where they can see across the countryside."

The Kites first turned up on June 14. There were two young ones still with their baby feathers and colouring. Ms Mace was unsure whether the birds she photographed on Saturday were the same ones. Regardless, they had settled in to their new home.

"We very much appreciate their rat catching abilities as we have never had a rat problem until this year," she said.

"These birds tend to follow the rodent plagues and thrive where there are grain crops and lots of rats and mice."

Brown falcons also appeared, prompting her to begin a series - 'Chronicles of the Kites' and 'Chronicles of the Falcons,' to record their activities over three months.

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The photographs have been well received on social media.

Ms Mace said she had always loved birds in the wild as they were "the ultimate aviators."

When not focusing on birds, she photographs horses competing in dressage or carriage driving, along with aircraft and the odd music event. She has been a photographer for 40 years.

"The birds are rather a challenge to photograph as they are so quick and somewhat smaller than horses to say the least and I never know when or where they are going to be active or if they will catch anything while I am watching," Ms Mace said.