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Fw: SWALLOW-TAILED KITE ON OUTERBANKS




----- Original Message -----
From: John Fussell <jfuss@clis.com>
To: Brad Carlson <bradcarlson1@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 7:59 AM
Subject: Re: SWALLOW-TAILED KITE ON OUTERBANKS


> The earliest Swallow-tailed Kite I've ever seen
> (by far) was one working its way up the coast,
> flying over Fort Macon, NC, on February 27,
> 1977.  It probably reached the Outer Banks
> later that day.
>
> Actually, if you think about it, a late February
> Swallow-tailed Kite is probably not as
> preposterous as it seems.  Those birds fly
> so efficiently that if they overshoot Florida by
> even a day or two they're in the Carolinas.
>
>
> John Fussell
> Morehead City, NC
> jfuss@clis.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Brad Carlson <bradcarlson1@hotmail.com>
> To: <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
> Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 6:56 PM
> Subject: SWALLOW-TAILED KITE ON OUTERBANKS
>
>
>
> > We had just given up at about 1:00pm and started heading back North
on
> Rt.
> > 12 to go home.  We had not driven one mile North of Avon when I
> commented to
> > Pat on how few birds we saw all day.  As I made this comment, I saw
a
> bird
> > flying close (50 feet) and parallel to us over her shoulder.  I
> expected to
> > see a Ring-billed or Herring Gull, but when I focused on it......  I
> said
> > "Holy ....!!!"  I possibly said a few other obscenities as well.  In
> any
> > case, I started yelling for her to look at the SWALLOW-TAILED KITE
> right
> > beside us!!!  I could not believe what we were looking at.  The
> > SWALLOW-TAILED KITE continued flying with us at about 5-10 mph,
> typically
> > always within 100 feet of either side of Rt. 12, and lower than the
> power
> > lines adjacent to the road.  We repeatedly drove ahead of it,
stopped
> and I
> > jumped out of the Explorer to take point blank pictures of it.  We
> continued
> > this pattern for two (2) hours all the way up and through Salvo, and
> then up
> > to the North end of North Pond at Pea Island.  As soon as we found
the
> bird,
> > we called Jeff Lewis and Pat Moore hoping that someone on the
> Outerbanks
> > would get to share the experience with us.  About an hour into the
> chase,
> > Jeff called on our cellphone to tell us that he was headed South
from
> > Roanoke Island to join us.  He found us at Pea Island around 3:00pm
> and was
> > able to get on this beautiful bird.  For Jeff, it was Dare County
> lifer.
> > For me, it was a NC state life, and for Pat it was a "true" lifer
that
> gave
> > an unbelievable show for her (us)!  Wow!!!
> >
> > March 10th has to be one of the earliest records for North Carolina.
> I was
> > just down in Florida last week, and the local birders said that the
> > Swallow-tail Kites had just returned at the end of February.
> >
> > -Brad & Pat Carlson
> > Winterville, NC
> > BradCarlson1@hotmail.com
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> >
> > ---
> > [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Cape Lookout Mail Server]
> >
> >
>

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