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Re: More Kites



Today Randy Emmitt, John Dole, and I paddled a canoe down the Cape Fear 
River in search of the Swallow-tailed Kites.  Since the water was high 
and fast-flowing, we decided to leave a car at the Riegelwood landing (6 
miles downstream at the end of Golf Course Rd. in Riegelwood) while we 
put in at Lock and Dam #1.  On the float down to the appointed spot we 
saw plenty of Anhingas and Mississippi Kites, but no Swallow-tailed.

Near 1 pm, when we were about a mile from Riegelwood a distant Swallow-
tailed Kite flew across the river from northeast to southwest.  We 
decided to try to check out the field it flew into and found a 
conveniently located ditch on the right (southwest) to pull the canoe 
into.  We hit the motherlode!  Soon we were watching 7 Swallow-tailed 
Kites (at least 1 immature) swirling all about.  They spent much of their 
time near the tops of the tall trees between two large fields - it 
wouldn't surprise me if they'd nested in this area - and we watched one 
eating a lizard.  After soaking in the spectacle for a while, we headed 
on to escape an approaching thunderstorm.  This area is just upstream 
from a dead tree in the water (SW side of the river) marked with three 
bands of duct tape.

Later, perhaps 2 pm, on the way back from retrieving the other car, John 
stopped near the Bladen/Columbus line on 87 to watch the flock of 10 that 
Eric Dean mentioned (about 4 miles away from our field of 7, as the kite 
flies).  

Still later, perhaps 3 pm, after we'd loaded up the canoe and were headed 
north again, we stopped to watch 2 Swallow-taileds in a field opposite 
Love Rd. (in Columbus Co., 2 miles from our kite field), then stopped 
again at the Bladen/Columbus line to watch 7 (2 immatures) at close range 
feeding on junebugs.  Awesome sight!  

The most conservative estimate is that we saw 10 Swallow-tailed Kites, 
since it's impossible to know how many of the ones we saw were 
duplicates, but there could have been 17 or more.  Our sightings were 
separated by several miles, but kites can travel fast!  Other totals: 15 
Mississippi Kites, 10 Anhingas.

Great day -- never thought I'd see a spectacle like this in NC!


--
Charles W. "Will" Cook                  w 919-660-7423
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook            cwcook@duke.edu
Biology Dept., Duke Univ., Box 90340, Durham, NC 27708