[texbirds] Hook-billed Kites-total of 5 birds at Mission Nature (bike) Park this afternoon
- From: "SeEttaM ." <seettam@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: TexBirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 22:02:29 -0600
After posting that I spotted 2 Hook-billed Kites this afternoon, I watched
one perch in a tree about 250 feet away for a full 5 minutes (per photo
time stamping) where I got a very nice view through my spotting scope of
his face including the "yellow teardrop over the eyes" (as described by
Brian Wheeler in Raptors of W. North America). I heard some chattering
vocalizations during that first flight as they had been flushed according
to a couple from New York that had seen them further east of me. I stayed
put and was delighted to watch between 1-3 birds fly by (all but one time
they close to where I was standing) an additional 4 times. Benton Basham
(" In 1983 Benton Basham became the first person to break the 700 species
barrier in a calendar year. <http://www.bigyear2011.com/700/>") arrived and
joined me for those additional great views and the couple from New York
joined Ben and I for the last 2 times we watched them fly by. During one
flight one of the kites flew directly over the 4 of us at less than 50
feet. On the last flight one of the kites put on quite a show by soaring
and gliding not just just above the mesquite tree tops but higher above in
the air as it circled a number of times as it flew off to the north.
As Benton and I went out to dinner to celebrate this life bird(s) sighting
for me I have only reviewed my photos briefly. Between what I saw in
flight, the perched bird and brief photo review there was at least 1 adult
male light morph, 1 adult female light morph, and 1 adult male dark morph.
I will get a few photos processed and uploaded to my Birds and Nature
blog<http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/>later tonight.
SeEtta Moss
Colorado birder currently in Pharr
http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission
from the List Owner
Other related posts:
- » [texbirds] Hook-billed Kites-total of 5 birds at Mission Nature (bike) Park this afternoon - SeEttaM .
