FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Mississippi Kite at Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch

[Brenda Tekin <bt8x@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Monday, September 2, 2002

This is to report an adult Mississippi Kite at Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch this 
afternoon, first spotted at 4:01 p.m. EST east out over the piedmont.

Wind:  light breeze out of the east
Temperature:  25 c

It was a good distance out to our east but not high up when first 
spotted.  Outstretched long pointed falcon-like wings, pale body and long 
tail were easily detected and caught my immediate attention.  It was slowly 
sailing heading in wide southeasterly direction then, without flapping, 
veered and in wide turn began heading east.  So slow, in fact, that I 
thought to myself any slower and if would fall out of the sky.  As it began 
to head east it pulled in its wings and in a fast glide went a short 
distance before abruptly stooping.  I thought surely it was going to crash 
into the treetops below when in an incredible aerial split second maneuver, 
it threw out its long wings, legs dropped down and it seemed to come to a 
dead standstill.  (In the fast glide with tucked wings it reminded me of a 
Broad-wing observed earlier in the day when wings were pulled in and 
gliding across the sky.) I ran to scope and quickly picked it back up.  The 
long square-tipped tail would at times appear to "twist" and partially 
flair; wings were long and at several angles when it made wide turns almost 
looked like a elongated or stretched out "M" with crook in the wings.  The 
short outer primary in each wing was easily detected.  It veered southward 
and just when we thought it would continue following the ridge it slowly 
turned and sailed towards us heading north and as it approached the SW 
corner of the building almost over the area of the swimming pool it stalled 
with wings fully extended and tail dropped down.  We were facing south and 
it was facing north so we had an unobstructed close view of the 
underside.  It there had been any doubts up until this time, it was this 
precise moment when the two observers knew without a doubt at what they 
were looking at.  At the moment it stalled, the tailed dropped, the legs 
and talons extended downward and forward towards us grabbing onto a 
dragonfly and lowering its head.  The whitish head was in contrast to the 
silvery underbody. Viewing the underside of the tail through the scope I 
could see no banding. It was uniformly darker than the "silvery" underside 
and with sun shining through it almost had a brownish tint with just a 
faint hint of brownish orange (not the rufous red of Red-tail hawk) that 
could be explained by afternoon sun.

It continued on a leisurely course sailing north across the gap and as it 
reached the Interstate it began to gain altitude, making a slow wide 
circle, climbing higher before it headed east toward the right rollover 
just left of the towers.  We lost it as it went up into thick grayish 
clouds almost 3 minutes after it was first spotted.



Brenda Tekin, Co-coordinator
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, VA

**Established 1976**
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch is held on the grounds of the Inn at Afton, located 
on the southern side of Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just 
above where I-64 (exit 99) intersects with the southern end of the Skyline 
Drive and the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, just east of 
Waynesboro, VA and approximately 22 miles west of Charlottesville, VA.


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