[Bristol-Birds] Swallow-tailed Kite report (Greene Co., TN)

August 25, 2008

This evening I received a compelling report of a recent Swallow-tailed Kite 
sighting in Greene County.

The bird was seen on Saturday, August 23, by Salome Myers, a resident of 
western Greene County.  She offered me a very detailed account of her 
experience, which I paraphrase as follows--

She was driving along the Horton Highway near its intersection with Smith Lane 
(near the community of Romeo) at about 1:00 in the afternoon when she saw a 
bird in the air ahead that "looked like a hawk."  As she approached, it began 
somewhat to resemble "a gull, with a lot of light color."  A short while later, 
at the intersection of the two roads, she observed it from directly beneath and 
was able to note its strikng shape and black-and-white pattern.  During the 
encounter, the bird was moving "toward Greeneville" [i.e., to the southeast].  
It soon disappeared.   

When she got home a little while later, she consulted a field guide and found a 
match to Swallow-tailed Kite but was puzzled by the fact that the range map 
didn't fit with northeast Tennessee.  She then contacted a birder friend in 
Pennsylvania, who pointed out to her that Swallow-tailed Kites wander widely 
from the breeding grounds and have been seen in Pennsylvania and other northern 
states.  She also consulted Virginia Williams, a longtime member of the 
Greeneville chapter of TOS.  Virginia offered similar information and suggested 
that Salome contact me.

I offered additional info about Swallow-tailed Kite sightings in Greene and 
Washington Counties in 2006 and 2007, respectively, pointing out that these 
sightings occurred in August.  I also asked her if she would mind if I posted 
an account of her experience on our local list serves.  She graciously agreed.  

Area birders should continue to be on the lookout for Swallow-tailed Kites.  
This is definitely a likely time for them to appear.

Many thanks to Salome Myers for taking the time to share her recent observation 
with us.

Don Miller
Greeneville, Greene Co., TN  

   
*************************************************
       BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5

Be sure and visit the Bristol Bird Club website at:
http://bristolbirdclub.org

This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications 
between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
and Northeast Tennessee.  
--------------------------------------------------
You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds.
To post to this mailing list, simply send an email
to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send
an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
--------------------------------------------------
       Wallace Coffey, Moderator
         wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
           (423)764-****

Other related posts: