Kites

Tuesday, July 29th  

Mississippi Kite seen at Power Line Road, July 2013
Photo courtesy of Bob Pelkey

Bob Pelkey, of swfloridabirder.blogspot.com, invited me to join him on a trip up to Payne's Prairie State Park's LaChua Trail.  Its a four hour drive and Bob likes to arrive early, so we left Ft Myers very early at about 3:30 am.

Snail Kite

Our goal was to find Mississippi Kites and for me getting that tick would nail down all four kite species that are found in Florida for this year.  I was lucky to have see a White-tailed Kite in Everglades National Park back in early January.  Snail Kites are easily found locally, year round.  And the Swallow-tailed Kite is a popular sight here from late February till the end of July. So this just leaves finding a Mississippi Kite which should be found around Gainesville and the Payne's Prairie Park this time of year.

This was a repeat visit for us as we had successfully found the kites here last year.  So today we arrived as the park opened at 8 am, and started the day by birding the parking lot. Here White-eyed Vireos and Carolina Wrens dominate. Pushing-on we began hearing numerous Eastern Towhees and spotted four Indigo Buntings darting into the brush.  A male Blue Grosbeak was singing atop a shrub near the La Chua Sink boardwalk and was briefly joined by a female Orchard Oriole.

Horse Barn at Payne's Prairie

Blue Grosbeak

Water levels were highest I have ever seen here. Right up to both sides of the Trail.  The flooded fields were rich with Pink Lotus, Water Lilies, Purple Hyacinths and Arrowroot.  Along the trail Green Herons were very common and we were able to add a lone Least Bittern, a Purple Gallinule, several Common Gallinules, a couple of Black-crowned Night-herons, dozens of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a lone Mottled Duck and a young King Rail.

But what about the Kites. They, like the vultures, usually don't take to air till around 9:30 as the air warms up.. So right on cue a pair of Mississippi Kites made their appearance near the Sink as they hunted for dragonflies. With the high humidity and rising temperatures it was time to move on. But was a successfully visit.

On the trip home we elected to make one more stop, at Power Line, which actually divides Pasco County from Hernando County.  It was also a place were Swallow-tailed Kites and few Mississippi Kite would congregate before migration. This year the Mississippi Kites haven't been seen here very often and today we didn't locate any and only saw on Swallow-tailed Kite. Other sighting did includes a pair of Southeastern American Kestrels, a Red-headed Woodpecker and a beautiful Red-tail Hawk.


So from here we headed back to Ft Myers.

Today's Species - 51

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Muscovy Duck, Mottled Duck, Northern Bobwhite, Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Swallow-tailed Kite, Mississippi Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Laughing Gull, King/Aztec Rail, Purple Gallinule, Common Gallinule, Sandhill Crane, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, American Kestrel, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Wren, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Boat-tailed Grackle and Orchard Oriole.

Swallow-tailed Kite