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Well thanks everyone for not making me feel a complete idiot re my kite sighting.
I knew at the time that this wasn’t a common bird in our area but I didn’t realize until later just how unlikely it was! I don’t normally fly off and post something like that. I was just blown away by this bird. It was very striking stark white with black markings—and that tail!
Maybe it could be a scissor-tailed flycatcher but I’ve never know one of them to fly in that manner—smoothing soaring, riding a wind current. The general outline said raptor to me, specifically a kite. And it seemed larger than a scissor-tailed.
I was out feeding my horses and I must have caught it in my peripheral vision and looked up automatically. I was very surprised that it wasn’t one of the regulars and started to reach for my phone but it disappeared. I thought it might circle back but it just kept going.
I did drive around to the next road to the north “Murray Rd” to see if we could intercept it but we didn’t see anything that matched and it was getting close to dusk by then.
I posted it in eBird and a local rep contacted me to ask for more info on the report. Below is the info I added to my report. I don’t know what it was. It’s not a bird I’ve seen here before.
Here is my updated report text. I don’t think I have enough to confirm it, i think I was thinking maybe someone else would have seen it.
Maggie Maginness
“ Leisurely headed north flying at tree top level. Mostly white bird with black tips on wings and a black, forked tail. Tail was not as long as a scissor-tailed flycatcher. Scissor tails lack the black on the wings, and I’ve never seen them fly in this manner—smoothly riding a wind current. Long thin wings. Larger than a crow. It soared over my barn and kept going north. I only saw it from below, can’t confirm color on back. No vocalizations. Mississippi and white-tailed kite lack black tail. My id was rash and I didn’t initially realize just how unlikely this sp of kite was in our area. The only way to account for it would be if it was blown WAY off course! There’s no way to be sure unless it gets seen again. ”
Sent from my iPhone
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