CarolinaBirds for Friday, August 18, 2006

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   Northeast & Bicknell's Thrush   John Ennis   7:31am   Mississippi kite nesting data from coastal SC   Richard Wyndham   8:50pm

To use email addresses replace '(AT)' with '@'. This is done to confuse the spam 'bots.

[ << | >> | ^^ ]

Subject: Northeast & Bicknell's Thrush
From: "John Ennis" <swampwolf(AT)thebusinessbirder.com>
Date: 18 Aug 2006 7:31am

Thanks again for all of the advice for this trip.  

I posted the long trip report at:
http://thebusinessbirder.com/northeastscouting.mht

I think I saw a Bicknell's; however, not good enough to count as a
lifer...so I'll just have to go back again when the birds are singing. 

John Ennis
Leland, NC
910-371-9729


[ << | >> | ^^ ]

Subject: Mississippi kite nesting data from coastal SC
From: "Richard Wyndham" <rick(AT)perspectivesweb.com>
Date: 18 Aug 2006 8:50pm

Hello:

It has occurred to me that someone out there may be collecting nesting
information, so I thought I would contribute dates for a successful nesting
by Mississippi kites in northern Charleston County, SC,  this summer.  My
wife and I live in a wooded area between McClellanville and the Santee
Coastal Reserve, about a half-mile inland from the Intracoastal Waterway.
The nest was about 50 feet up in a pond pine, just at the base of the crown,
and only about 30 feet north of our house.

On May 31 we observed a pair of Mississippi kites began nest-building.  We
were on vacation from June 7-13, so did not note when incubation began, but
it was underway by the morning of the 14th, when we next looked at the nest.
We could not see how many eggs were there, but only one chick appeared to
hatch. Feeding was first seen on the morning of July 11.  The young bird was
still there on the late afternoon of August 16, but was gone when we next
looked at the nest mid-morning on the 17th.

The nest appeared to be remarkably flimsy.  This was perhaps one reason why
the young bird spent much of its time in the last week or so not in the
nest, but on a nearby branch.

The birds were not deterred by the presence of humans and dogs.  Our house
is 35 feet high; there are a number of large windows -- often illuminated at
night -- overlooking the nest site; we have three large dogs and a cat; and
- perhaps most remarkable of all -- a workman was using power tools to build
a chicken house and pen less than 75 feet from the nesting tree during much
of the nest-building and early incubation times.

Richard Wyndham