Approx 9:15 Monday morning (today), I saw a bird that I suspect is a
Mississippi Kite over the intersection of VA-123 (Ox Road) and Burke Center
Parkway. This is a block from the Fairfax Station post office and is a
moderate distance from the Springfield / Kings Park location where the
Mississippi Kites are commonly reported.
I saw the bird briefly over the intersection. It was a fairly large bird
and my initial thought was "Cooper's Hawk ? ?". The tail was long, slightly
flared in flight and the end of the tail was cut straight, not noticably
rounded. The bird seemed medium-dark grey, but it was back-lit such
that any sense of color may have been completely wrong.
The bird rose with two or three flaps like a hawk and then started some
amazing acrobatics that made me say "but a Blue Grey Gnatcatcher *never*grows
*that big* !". Twice it twisted such that I saw the top of the wings and
there was a noticable large white rectangular patch. Since this was a quick
look (and I'm not familiar with kites), I cannot say how the rectangular
patch was oriented. It quickly flew off to the northeast and my traffic
light turned green.
My best guess is a Mississippi Kite ----- if not, I have no idea what it
could have been. :-)
-Anne
--
Anne Louise Gockel
