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Pea Island; swallow-tailed kites



All,

I'm a little puzzled by all the concern that Pea Island won't be accessible if they build the long bridge. Best I can figure, the existing road will be there for a while, and once its gone or overwashed in places to the point it is no longer passable, you should still be able to walk. I imagine the FWS will maintain some roads in order to facilitate management (i.e. water level management, vegetation management, etc.), and they may use some of these roads as part of a "Wildlife Drive" as is found on many refuges.

If the best thing for the birds and the ecosystem is the long bridge, that's the way it should be. Enterprising birders will find away to exercise whatever opportunities are allowed to bird.

On that note, I want to thank Steve Shultz for borrowing his brother's boat so we could go down to the Lower Cape Fear. We were watching at least 4 swallow-tailed kites within 15 minutes of launching the boat approximately 3.5 miles downstream of the lock 1 landing, and we saw at least 10 Mississippi kites along the river (we saw one more on Devil's Racetrack Road in Johnston County on the way home, too!). We explored on further down the river to the Thoroughfare (a natural cut between the Northeast Cape Fear and the Cape Fear which isolates Roan Island); a couple of clay bluffs on the way look like perfect kingfisher nesting habitat. On the way back up to the ramp we hoped to get some photos of the kites (weren't too successful on the way down- Harry Sell, how do you do it?), but instead we got completely soaked by a rainstorm on the last five miles of the run back up. It just added to the fun. I haven't been on this stretch of the river for 23 years, since my alligator surveying days; it still largely looks the same- no, better, when kites are playing overhead!

I've looked in some of my references, and they suggest that swallow-tailed kites are probably loosely colonial nesters (as are Mississippis). There have been 4-6 birds sighted routinely in this area. How many of ya'll reckon there's at least one nest somewhere near there?

Take care,

Clyde Sorenson
Clayton and Raleigh, NC
clyde_sorenson@ncsu.edu