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mystery bird? kite? gull?



Carolina birders,

I've recently joined this list serve and have enjoyed reading all your
emails. I am hoping someone might have insight into a bird we saw
yesterday in Granville County, NC, near Creedmore.

We were driving along the country side, and unfortunately only got a
couple of good, quick looks.  There was a bird soaring (not too high,
maybe 80 ft?) over the farm land/fields (there may have been a pond or
lake out of sight).  We saw it do a couple of turns, beat it's wings a
few times and then drop out of sight behind some trees.  The bird was
all white underneath with black on the ends of the wing.  It was about
the size of a small, slender hawk/gull shape, and appeared to be hunting
from the air.  This description fits a white-tailed kite, but from the
investigating I've done, this would be pretty impossible.  I guess a
lone gull???  We did see some gulls a few miles away in town.  Any
thoughts?


April Smyth
Chapel Hill, NC
acarrier@bios.unc.edu