I had the great luck of spotting a Swallow-tailed Kite while on break at work a
little after 5pm yesterday. I noticed the bird out at a distance of several
hundred yards while I was sitting in my truck talking on the phone with a
friend. The flight kind of made me think nighthawk but the time was a couple
hours earlier than normal. A quick look through my binoculars cleared things
up and shortened my phone call. The bird was working an area a couple of
hundred yards high in a wide path for around 15 minutes. I called the break
room and asked a co-worker to come have a look, even though he is not a birder.
(Some birds are just easy to appreciate!)
Incidentally last fall, my wife Jeannie, saw two Swallow-tailed Kites from her
work (also in Coffee Co.). This could possibly make us the only married couple
to have spotted their sole Tennessee Swallow-tailed Kite(s) while being on
company time! Is that a tick category?
Dale Swant
Manchester, TN
