VA BIRDers,
This report comes from Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper who asked me to post
it.
Barry and I went to the Waynewood Elementary School this morning about 9:30
a.m., really just to check the area out as we thought it would be too early
for kites to be up.
We arrived and started to scan to the SW where some distant swifts and
swallows were up against towering clouds (a good sky for kites, we thought).
However, it wasn't 10 minutes before one and then another Kite flew in over
our heads (that is, from the east), only about 50 feet up if that, and
flapping rather than gliding. Wow, talk about good timing! The distinct
impression was that they had just come off a roost area behind us and were
only just "getting up."
They circled around, gradually gaining altitude, over the playing field. We
enjoyed great views of these birds, both "top" and "bottom" views as they
tilted and soared. They were both adults.
Finally, at about 200 feet up, the kites broke off their circling and glided
steadily (no flapping) almost directly north until they were lost over the
treeline. The whole encounter lasted about ten minutes.
We both thought that the kites may have been roosting somewhere in the line
of large trees to the east of the school's playing field, as their altitude
when we first saw them was was actually lower than the tops of these (large)
trees.
Since Hunting Creek had been a bit disappointing this morning, the kites
really made the day!
Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper
Colesville, MD
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