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Posted by The Great Fooler - Circus cyaneus on 07:04:41 11/21/09
In Reply to: Blue-headed Vireo, Magnolia Warbler and Mississippi Kite @ FIU posted by Angel & Mariel
Mississippi Kite indeed sounds quite "sweet."
Could you please write details on the bird's plumage - age/sex - and flight? A bird easily overlooked, yet it does seem somewhat late.
Recently out near the coast thought I had one also, tucked on a glide very high, and kept on it for a while.
Then I realized I'd been once again fooled by "the great fooler" - the Northern Harrier! It was an uncanny individual, holding its wings tightly tapered, giving it a surprisingly "peregrine-like" form. I've concluded it must have been an old female judging by the overall dull-gray coloration except for darker secondaries fading to very light outer wings - adding to the Mississippi-like mystique. The height, lighting, behavior (and perhaps the bird's age and sex) had prevented me from seeing any other patterning.
And at the last minute, when I was ready to celebrate, the bird broke the glide and turned to a kettle, revealing its true identity.
I'd been fooled.
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