VA Birders,
Last Tuesday's "Voice of the Naturalist" contained a report, which I have
not seen on VA-Bird, that Mississippi (MS) Kites were nesting in the
Waynewood area of Fairfax Co., and that their eggs should be hatching within
the next
10 days. The report also suggested that the Waynewood Elementary School was a
good place to look for the MS Kites. After seeing this report, Pat Blyer and
I decided to go look for kites there this morning. (We had seen an MS Kite
there last August, and a week ago, after a visit to Huntley Meadows, we had
gone there about 11:00 am to look for kites based on a previous report from the
Waynewood area, but we didn't see any.) This morning we arrived at the school
about 10:15 am. We had been there about 45 minutes when I looked up and saw
an MS Kite almost over my head; it had appeared out of nowhere! We couldn't
see the bird's colors very well, because the sky was so overcast, but there was
no doubt it was an MS Kite. It flew around for at least a minute or 2, then
disappeared behind some trees, and after a short time it came back again. When
it disappeared the second time we decided to leave, but as we were about to
get in our cars, it flew back over our heads and we got more good looks at it
before it disappeared again and we left. In all, I think we probably watched
this MS Kite, which actually was soaring in the wind and I'm not sure it
actually flapped its wings at all, for the better part of 15 minutes.
Directions: From Alexandria, take the G.W. Pkwy. south to Waynewood
Blvd. (a few miles north of Mt. Vernon). Turn right on Waynewood and continue
to
the Waynewood Elementary School on your left (past at least 2 all-way stop
signs and a rec. center). Turn left into the last driveway, which goes to the
main parking lot. Look for the kite(s) around the parking lot and the grassy
field beyond it. THE REPORT ON THE "VOICE" ASKED PEOPLE WHO GO TO LOOK FOR
KITES ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS TO CHECK IN AT THE OFFICE ON WEEKDAYS WHEN THE
SCHOOL
IS OPEN.
Note: We also saw lots of Chimney Swifts around the school, and it
appears that the school's old, square, brick chimney has a colony of swifts
nesting
in it. In fact, I saw a group of swifts come out of the chimney while we
were there (I was surprised to see them come out in late morning, but perhaps
it
was because the sky was so overcast). I have seen other colonies of Chimney
Swifts in similar chimneys in the past, but I don't recall hearing any reports
of a colony at Waynewood.
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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