Waretown 8/11--Mississippi Kite

Not from today--rather 2015

The Mississippi Kite is my least favorite bird in all of New Jersey--not because I have anything against the bird but because of its location, a residential neighborhood in Waretown, where they have been nesting since 2015, the only nesting kites in New Jersey, so, a big deal. But I hate walking around a quiet neighborhood with my binoculars and camera around my neck. I feel like an intruder, a voyeur, a creep. So I am always hesitant to go after the bird and I tend not to give myself very much time to find it.

Earlier in the season I made a couple of half-hearted attempts to find the bird, walking quickly through the neighborhood, hoping it would alight on its favorite dead tree but I had no luck. Then, with everything else going on in the world, I just let it go. I figured I'd seen the bird(s) every year and since my year list doesn't mean much to me this year, it didn't really matter if I saw the bird or not. 

But, obviously, it did. Such an unusual bird in such an unusual spot (and the only reason we know about is that a birder happens to live across the street from the dead tree)...it's hard to dismiss it. So, today, after birding Tuckerton  (giving Whitesbog a rest for a day), I figured I was more or less in the area again and would try to try a little harder for the bird. I parked in my usual spot and walked the block to the dead tree. No soap. I walked another block to the area where they have been nesting, but as soon as I heard voices of people outside, going in and out of their cars, relaxing on their porches, I just couldn't do it and turned around, heading back to where I was parked. Then, out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird soaring over the the houses. Could be a Turkey Vulture. But, when it came around again, out from behind some tall trees, it was the kite, gray with that distinctive mask around the eye. Fantastic. Another example of the 2nd law of birding in which you won't see the bird until you truly give up. 

Now I can return my attentions to Whitesbog for the month though I see that two Swallow-tailed Kites were spotted at Sandy Hook today, heading south. That would be a lifer. What are the odds that they'll sail by down here and what are the odds that my life line will intersect with theirs? Slim, I'd say.