ML154792031
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
Adult WTKI first found by Jeff Fischer 8/17/2012 and relocated by Paul E. Budde on the 18th; both of these birders from the Twin Cities and both sightings along Murphys Rd. Robbye Johnson and I drove down from the Twin Ports and fortuitously took a wrong turn placing us on Buggerts Lake Rd instead of Murphys Rd. Robbye spotted the kite perched on the snag of a dead tree in the middle of an open area west of Buggerts Lake Rd. We subsequently viewed the bird from North Refuge Rd, where we were joined by Dan Belter and 2 others; they had already seen the kite earlier in the day from Murphys Rd. Although it was approximately 400 yards away, lighting was good as we looked west from Buggerts Lake Rd and north from the North Refuge Rd under clear skies with temperatures in the low 70s. We watched it through a Leica Televid 77mm APO spotting scope with 20-60x zoom eyepiece as it perched, preened, made several short flights including kiting while hunting, and successfully caught and ingested a prey item (identity of the prey could not be determined). One time it made a short flight to supplant an American Kestrel from its perch. The kite eventually took flight for no apparent reason and flew within about 150 yards of us as it headed east towards Murphys Rd where it had been originally found on the 17th. We drove several roads in the area and scanned likely perches for another two hours, but never refound it again. Description from field notes when the bird was facing away from us while perched: whitish head with black eye patch; pale gray back; black shoulders at rest; folded primaries gray [same shade as back]; white tail extends beyond wing tips; yellowish-orange legs. We subsequently saw its whitish underparts and diagnostic blackish markings on its underwing coverts. Good photos obtained by Jeff Fischer on the 17th have been posted at http://ecobirder.blogspot.com, and Dan Belter and Robbye Johnson both have better photos than mine from the 19th.
Technical information
- Original file size
- 1.46 MB