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Posted by tricia on 18:00:30 04/08/07
This morning, a meeting of the SoFla-Tampa branch of the Swallowtail Kite Fanciers assoc gathered for our Easter conference.
As the STKs have been most erratic this year, we started with an early discussion of who should "sacrifice" first.
For the uninitiated, the best way to actually get to see a kite is to send off someone with a camera who has been patiently waiting for hours. Once the person is out of camera range, viola! a kite appears.
So when one of the Tampa clan came over and casually mentioned that "there are a bunch of warblers in that tree over there", I refused to bite at the bait. Nope, no sacrifice from me.
Then he mentioned something about a yellow bird "might be a prothonatary warbler"
Hook, line and sinker, I was gone as soon as he showed me a picture!
A life bird was worth the sacrifice!
Sure enough as soon as I focused on the birds, our kite appeared.
Turns out there was a micro fallout in the ficus tree near the snack machines.
I saw:
2 prothonatary warblers
1 rose breasted grosbeak (another life bird)
prairie warbler
yellow throated warbler
palm warbler
myrtle
blue head vireo
black and white warbler
northern parula
and something that may have been a magnolia warbler.
All in the same tree!!
We did end up with several passes by the kite(s).
The last one warmed my heart when a family that I had earlier shown an image to saw me focusing on the kite.
Children were screaming "Dad , look that's a swallowtail kite! Stop the car! let me out! Take a picture!
And they did all of the above.
I think we got 5 future birders there :)
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