The facts:
Last Saturday (Aug 1) Peter Landry found a Swallow-tailed Kite at Luther Marsh in Dufferin County. I had a feeling a kite would show up in Ontario, as sightings were popping up across the northeast, so it wasn't overly surprising when this one was reported. STKI is a fairly rare species in Ontario though, with this bird representing the 20th (?) record. It came out later that the kite was reported on iNaturalist on July 23, extending the birds stay by over a week.
The story:
Anyway I hadn't chased a bird outside of Bruce since March, so I talked my mom into heading over a few days after it was seen. The kite seemed very reliable and had been seen for 3 days, so I wasn't too worried..
We left the house early and made it to Luther Marsh just after 8am. There were a few birders there at that time, who told me the bird hadn't been seen yet. The area the kite had been reported in spanned a few concessions, so we drove along, stopping every few hundred meters to scan..and I saw... nothing. Well no kite anyway, but there were lots of birds around. I've never birded in Dufferin before, so everything was a county tick.
At 9am I had been down the whole road.. but hadn't seen the kite. Mom wanted to leave around 10, so I took my search up a notch. I retraced my steps down the road, again stopping every few hundred meters ~ but this time I got my scope out and took a few minutes to thoroughly scan the distant treeline. After 5 stops of doing this, I spotted a distant black & white blob in the scope ~ success! Lifer Swallow-tailed Blob!
According to ABA listing rules, blobs are perfectly countable on your life list, however it wasn't a very satisfying view to say the least! (especially considering the almost 5 hour round trip).
Here's a photo of the first view
I fired off a few messages to the rare bird alerts, then turned my attention back to the bird in question. It was preening now, so maybe that meant it was getting ready to fly? More birders started showing up, clearly anxious to add a blob to their year/life lists. Apparently the bird was waiting for a crowd, as it flew off it's perch and spent the next half hour hawking for insects over the field. I knew the chase was worth it then, as the stunning plumage combined with the swallow-like flight made it one of the most beautiful birds I've seen.
I managed a few half decent photos.. nothing gr8 though.
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| - Kite & Barn Swallow |
Anway that's all for now!
Stay tuned for What's This Bird Wednesday tomorrow
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