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Mississippi Kites on the Great Plains



Donna Bailey's mention of Mississippi Kites on the Great Plains encourages
me to report on a late-June detour Jane Chew and I took to Cottonwood
Canyon in Baca County, Colorado, in the southeastern corner of the state.
The point of the jaunt (the last twenty miles of which were on isolated
dirt roads; if the rental car had broken down we'd never have been found,
it seemed) was to see Lewis's Woodpeckers, which breed in some numbers in
the trees along the stream course; the kites were a surprise, especially
since there were at least ten of them.  We had the opportunity to study
them in the scope at leisure; in SC we've had them only in flyovers.  In
Cottonwood Canyon they were actively hunting, but only for insects so far
as we could tell.  Although we didn't find a nest, it seemed certain that
they are breeding in the area.  Other good birds we had that morning were a
pair of Burrowing Owls on the way back to the paved road and?in the canyon
itself?both Ash-throated Flycatcher and (most unexpectedly) several Eastern
Phoebes at the very edge of their range.

Cottonwood Canyon is a magical spot; we recommend it to anyone birding in
CO.

Jim Edwards
jim.edwards@furman.edu