Date: 4/23/24 4:32 pm From: Kimball Garrett via groups.io <cyanolyca818...> Subject: [LACoBirds] Thoughts on the Encino Swallow-tailed Kite
Birders,
Hugh Ranson's post to Calbirds about a Swallow-tailed Kite photographed yesterday (22 April) in Encino must have caught everybody's attention. Calbirds does not allow attachments, but Hugh later provided a link to the photos and they were also circulated to a handful of people.
Chasing seems out of the question, but it is interesting that California's second accepted Swallow-tailed Kite (also found on 22 April, but in 2016), was seen on that day at two different sites at opposite ends of the San Diego County coast as it moved north. So the Encino bird, which would be California's third and obviously a first for Los Angeles County, might be seen again somewhere up the coast. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check the nearby Sepulveda Basin, along with other open lowland sites farther up the coast such as Oxnard/Port Hueneme. Who knows, maybe it will end up in Marin County at the north end of the Golden Gate, following the path of the White-tailed Eagle.
The wheels are in motion to get all the details (including the images, the observer's name, and any other pertinent details) to the California Bird Records Committee.
Kimball
P.S. -- Windy out here in the Antelope Valley -- probably not ideal for chasing the Cassin's Sparrow.in Lancaster.
