[mou-net] Mississippi Kite, Hawk Ridge
While doing the official bird count at Hawk Ridge today, Cory Ritter and I saw another Mississippi Kite. The bird was seen from the Main Overlook at about 11:15 am, but remained very high and out toward the lake, continuing on southward toward downtown Duluth. Although we were not seeing very many dragonflies at the time, the kite was actively hunting and eating dragonflies on its way south, and a few minutes later a Merlin was seen doing the same thing. This is the second Mississippi Kite of the season at Hawk Ridge, the first also seen by Cory Ritter and myself on 27 August 2013. It seems likely that there could be additional Mississippi Kite sightings on the Ridge this fall. Last year there were five seen in Duluth, including three on the official hawk count. I believe that conditions have been good this season for vagrant kites because of the predominantly southerly winds (often quite strong) we had in late August, which is the peak of migration for this species to our south. A few appear to get blown north during these conditions, and then eventually reorient themselves back southward. Karl Bardon Duluth, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Mississippi Kite- Hawk Ridge
Another Mississippi Kite was seen at Hawk Ridge today (16 September), which is the third seen from the Ridge this season, and the fifth sighting in Duluth this fall. Today's kite was first seen from the main overlook at 4:08 pm, and we were able to watch it for an extended period of time- although it disappeared several times, the bird was in view off and on for over an hour!, with the last sighting at 5:18 pm. The bird repeatedly caught and ate dragonflies around us, and on one of its last passes, came directly over the main overlook, allowing us to take some identifiable photos. Observers on the platform besides myself included Andrew Longtin, Dave Carman, Steve Bockhold, Russ Edmonds, and Cory Ritter, but many other observers were able to see the kite as well. This sighting follows one seen from the Hawk Ridge main overlook on 27 August by Dave Carman and myself, an adult seen by Mike Hendrickson in Smithville on 3 September, a juvenile seen and photographed from the Paine Farm banding station near Hawk Ridge on 5 September (about 6 pm) by Cory Ritter and Nova Mackentley, and a juvenile seen and photographed at the Hawk Ridge main overlook on 6 September (about 9:52 am) by Cory Ritter. Karl Bardon Duluth, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Mississippi Kite, Hawk Ridge
A Mississippi Kite flew by Hawk Ridge today (27 August) around 12:45. Spotted by Dave Carman high overhead on the lake side of the ridge, this bird continued towards downtown Duluth and out of sight without losing altitude or coming closer to the ridge. We watched it appear to be hunting dragonflies, but the bird was far too high to determine its success. There were small numbers of dragonflies in the air at the time of the kite sighting, to be sure, but most interestingly, a massive dragonfly migration came through during the hour period before sunset while I was still watching nighthawks from Hawk Ridge. During this time I counted/estimated 225,000 dragonflies, which were virtually all green darners! This careful estimate was obtained by counting bands of dragonflies moving by at the rate of 1,000/minute and counting the number of minutes these bands continued. For example, at the peak of this movement, for about 20 minutes there were green darners moving by at the rate of 6,000/minute. Mississippi Kites are semi-annual at Hawk Ridge (I have seen at least one during 4 out of my 6 years counting at Hawk Ridge), but this is the earliest I have seen, so let's hope there are additional kite sightings at Hawk Ridge this fall. Karl Bardon Duluth, MN Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
