FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] RPT: Swallowt-tailed Kite update

[Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Condolences to those who have made the trip to Sinclair WMA without seeing
this gorgeous bird :o(  The 1997, Boone County bird stayed until September
7th, so maybe we'll be lucky enough to have it around another couple of
weeks.

I understand that Jim Williams observed the bird on Friday, August 22nd.

About a dozen of us got more great looks at it yesterday, Sunday, August
24th, from about 10:30 CDT to 12:30 CDT, with the bird spending most of its
time once again along the ridge that runs along the north side of S5. Its
behavior repeated that of most other days, with periods of foraging low over
the treetops N of S5 with occasional forays into the wild blue yonder above,
sometimes as far as a mile or so away to the north and south.  Yesterday
some of us got to see it dip into the water of the S5 lake, apparently
rinsing off its legs and talons. One can imagine that all of those gooey
insects make for some sticky talons after a few hours of catching them!  The
BNA account notes that the birds bathe in this way, and I saw the Boone
County bird bathe in the Ohio River in this manner in 1997, but that bird's
entire belly was wet. Yesterday, the only feathers that looked wet after its
three dips into the water were the legs and tail.  Again yesterday, we saw
the bird doing what the BNA account refers to as the "aerial flutter" or
"fluttering dive" which serves an apparently unknown purpose.  One
researcher saw the birds do this only after they departed the nest after
incubating, but another reported it in different contexts.  It is a neat
behavior, whatever purpose it serves.

The ash basin at the Paradise Steam Plant had previously reported shorebirds
minus the Stilt Sandpiper but plus a couple of Semipal Plovers.

bpb, Louisville
brainard.palmer-ball AT mail.state.ky.us
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