FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] A Raptor Visitation in Greene Co., TN

[dnldhlt@xxxxxxx]

THU 12 MAY 2005
Clyde Austin 4-H Center, Greene Co., TN
D. Holt
 
A little after 6:30 pm I was listening to a WILSON'S WARBLER on the back forty 
when I looked up through a large hole in the forest canopy and saw a raptor 
soaring.  It was a PEREGRINE FALCON, its body looking quite chunky, its wings 
pointed, and its tail spread.  Through my 8X32 Eagleoptics Rangers I could just 
make out a hint of face pattern, but not in any detail.
     Then another large raptor soared in beneath it, at about 3X canopy height, 
with a light head and body and wing linings, but dark flight feathers and tail. 
 The wings were long and pointed, and the tail was evenly and markedly forked.  
I saw it for just a second or two as it soared over the canopy opening, then it 
was behind the trees and headed into the sun.
     You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I have only seen a 
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE well once before, but not from below like this, so I double 
checked my eastern Sibley's (all I had with me at work), looking for any 
similar suspects.  Even after my exercise in self-doubt, I remain convinced of 
the obvious.
     I was having a good birding day even before this last hurrah. Some of the 
other species I most enjoyed seeing and hearing today were:
Northern Bobwhite
Green Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-headed Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Swainson's Thrush
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Summer Tanager
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Orchard Oriole
 
Don Holt
Johnson City, TN
 

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