[va-bird] Mississippi Kite at Huntley, plus Saturnid moths

This morning, I helped chaperone my daughter's kindergarten class's field 
trip to Huntley.  Obviously, I did not have the opportunity for serious 
birding.  
The focus was on sheer survival (for me) and finding herps for the kids.  But 
I did get a chance to see my first kite of the year.  I could only watch it 
for a few seconds at a time over several minutes, but it appeared to be an 
adult male.  Once, it dropped like a rock into the vegetation near the platform 
at 
the end of the hike/bike trail, and almost immediately flew up again.
Nonetheless, the insects were the highlight of the trip for me.  In addition 
to a very impression chorus right around the visitor's center, there was a 
gorgeous luna moth on a leaf about 9 feet over the path just in from the 
parking 
lot.  Ironically, one of the other chaperones pointed it out (before the kids 
arrived), while I was showing some of the volunteers digital pictures I had 
taken earlier that morning at White Oaks Park -- of two Polyphemus moths 
mating. 
For those of you who aren't familiar with them, luna and Polyphemus moths 
(the later named after the cyclops of Odyssey fame) are members of the Saturnid 
family, or giant silk worms.  They are the charismatic megafauna of the moth 
world.

For me, this month has definitely been defined more by the insects than 
migrant birds.  Now if I can just find a Cecropia moth and an Io moth this year 
. . 
. .

Ben Jesup
Alexandria


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