NOTE: The following photo is courtesy of Darlene Friedman. Thank you Darlene for so kindly allowing me to use your photo of this awesome raptor for this blog entry.
On Sunday, September 20, 2009, those of of who were at the Detroit River Hawk Watch (formerly Southestern Michigan Raptor Research)was rewarded with a very rare sighting of a fall Mississippi Kite. This is the second record of this species for this hawk watch. I recorded the first one on September 7, 1997.
The day started out fairly slow, which is typical for the morning. Roughly 30+ people were anxiously waiting and hoping for big kettles of Broad-winged Hawks to materialize.
As the morning waged on, small groups of Broad-winged Hawks could be seen rising above the tree tops on the other side of the Detroit River. Sharp-shinned Hawks would pass one at a time. Still, no big groups of hawks could be found and some (including myself) were getting antsy.
Around 11:30am, I had to answer the call of nature...which I dreaded, because once you leave the site, something rare or uncommon is assurendly to pass by and you will miss it! The running joke is, that whoever leaves, is the "sacrificial birder". And it was gonna be my turn--or was it?
As I made my way to the rest room, I ran into my buddy Mike Kielb. We chatted a few moments and I hurried on to my destination--the call of nature was getting much louder. middle age is a pain! As I was almost into the restroom building, some several yards away from the count site, I heard Mike yell out to me in an excited voice,"Jeff, look behind you"
As I looked to my right, I was shocked to see a Mississippi Kite coming straight at me. It stopped a few times to flap and circle...glide a bit more and ended up circling right above me at tree top level! I could have hit the bird with a rock it was so low. This was a good thing, seeing I left my binoculars on the picnic table at the count site. unfortunately, my camera was there as well. Go figure! Nonetheless, I got awesome views of this magnificient raptor. killer looks in fact!
As I said earlier, this is the second ever Mississippi Kite at this hawk watch and I was fortunate to be able to see both of them.
This was a state bid for many of the observers on hand. For many others, it was a lifer! This was my fifth time seeing this species in the state.
Twenty seven days prior to this, I saw my first Swallow-tailed Kite for Michigan. This bird was in Chelsea near the property of the Cassidy Lake Corrections Facility. Not too shabby getting two kite species for the state in the same season!
Thanks again to Darlene for allowing me to use her pictures, since I was unable to photograph the bird myself. That will teach me to carry my camera and bins with me at all times...even on the way to the restroom. Sure, I will probably get strange looks holding a camera in the bathroom, but I'll risk it.