Visited the Mississippi kite area above the Occoquan at 9 AM Friday,
June 4. When I drove up, 1 birder and three kites were in view. Over the
next hour, one other birder visited.And perhaps a 4th kite. Thanks Jim
for sharing information on these beautiful birds.
The birds seem completely at ease with visitors. They use a dead-topped
oak as a perching platform and at one point had three in the spotting
scope's field of view at once.
Two of the birds appear to be in adult plumage; the other two were imms
and one is undergoing heavy wing molt.
The birds are involved in nest building in a nearby tree and we watched
them do this for a 5 minute period during which much nest primping was
going on.
When in the dead oak, one or more of the birds was snapping twigs off
for nest construction and seemed to be dropping about half of what was
detached.
One or more birds were vocalizing; most commonly this was a quiet four
to five note whistle. The first note is higher in pitch and longer in
duration followed by three to four slightly lower, faster notes.
The neighbors were great in showing us how best to approach the birds.
They are very easy to photograph.. One neighbor who lives below the cul
de sac on the river asked what we were watching and shared that two
weeks ago he watched a major may fly hatch and an immediate response
from large, dark dragonflies. He had seen the kites feeding below but
didn't know what they were or that this was perhaps the northernmost
known nesting. One of my birding friends reported that kites are being
seen in Truro, MA however. I am not sure if this is new or birds
returing to a known site.
Craig Tufts
Craig Tufts
Chief Naturalist
National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Drive
Reston, VA 20190-5362
phone :(703) 438-6438
fax: (703) 438-6035
email: tufts@xxxxxxx
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