Mississippi Kite Bonanza, Delaware and Nearby Maryland, June 3-4, 2021

A late May and early June 2021 trip to the Mid-Atlantic and New England states gave me an opportunity to add a few species to my statelists in the region.  Although the primary focus was to visit relatives, there’s always time to squeeze in at least a little birding.  Since I used to live in the area my statelists there are pretty good, but there are usually at least a few targets to hope for – often there is a rarity or two that might be around when I’m in town, and occasionally a few remaining regular species that I haven’t yet run into. 

Our first stops were in PA where I added Trumpeter Swan to my list, and RI where I added Atlantic Puffin (see my earlier blog posts for summaries of these sightings).  Then it was on to visit relatives in northern Delaware.  As on my earlier stops, I pulled up an eBird Needs Alert and was surprised to see numerous reports of Mississippi Kites in DE.  As it turns out, this is the year for Brood X of the 17-Year Cicadas to hatch out, and there were numerous Kites that went north of their regular range, coming to the area to take advantage of this abundant food source.  There were pictures on-line of Kites capturing, and then eating, cicadas on the wing just like they do with dragonflies in their regular range. 

Here’s a picture of several cicadas hatching out on one part of one tree in just one morning.

And another picture of the ground below with all the shed skins of those that hatched out on previous days.

There was one DE spot in particular where up to a dozen MIKIs were spotted feeding – in Newark conveniently within 30 minutes of my brother’s house.  The spot was on Casho Mill Road over fields behind an elementary school.  This location was less than a mile from the MD stateline, and since I needed them for my MD list as well, I wondered if they were also being seen in MD.  Sure enough, there was a site just over2 miles away as the Kite flies in Elkton, MD where another feeding flock was being seen.  And not to be greedy, but this area was also less than a mile from the PA stateline – could there be a feeding flock just across the line in PA as well?  Unfortunately, eBird showed that there were only occasional Kite sightings at random locations in southeastern PA, none apparently chaseable.  I’d have to be content with 2 states out of 3.  My plan was first to pursue the DE birds and then try for the MD birds the next day.

A few hours after rolling into town on June 3 I mentioned the Mississippi Kites to my brother.  He was interested in seeing them as well, and was familiar with the elementary school where they were being seen.  So late in the afternoon we headed off to give them a try.  (We timed our trip to be late enough in the day so that everyone would be gone from the school – didn’t want anyone to question why people were walking around the school grounds with binoculars.)  Just after we arrived, we saw a birder out in the field pointing to the sky.  We looked up and there was an immature Mississippi Kite flying by.  A quick but good view, but we were hoping for more.  Not seeing any more birds overhead, we walked a bit farther and spotted some activity in the trees just beyond the fields.  We had one, then two, then more Kites perched in the trees.  We had at least 4 in view in each of 2 trees.  Here’s a distant picture of one of the subadult birds taken by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

We even saw a Crow catching cicadas on the wing doing its best Kite imitation.

Then on the morning of June 5th I was off to try to find Mississippi Kites in MD.  But along the way I made a few stops at White Clay Creek State Park nearby hoping for Yellow-throated Vireos.  That’s one of the few regular birds I still needed for my DE list, and there were a number of YTVI reports from various parts of the park this spring.  So even though I was optimistic, I unfortunately came up short at this very birdy spot.  Maybe I would have had better luck hearing them without the roar of the cicadas. 

Next it was off to Hillwood Road in Elkton, MD where there were double-digit reports of Kites feeding over the fields in the area.  When I arrived, it was still pretty cool and overcast - not the best conditions to see Kites hawking overhead.  So I wasn’t too surprised that I didn’t see any Kites in the air.  After a few minutes I thought about my experience the day before in DE when I was able to find several birds perched in nearby trees.  So I started scanning the trees in the yards near the fields and eventually spotted some movement – sure enough it was a Kite flying among the trees.  With a bit more scanning I found several birds flying through or just above the canopy presumably catching cicadas just as they took off from the trees.  Most surprisingly, at one point I saw a pair copulating, and a third bird carrying a stick as if it were nest building.  It’s not likely that they will stay in the area and nest, but then again sometimes birds that overshoot their normal ranges will colonize those new areas.  I ended up with at least 5 birds visible at one time in the trees.  And got these passable photos through my binoculars of one bird nicely perched, and a pair in another tree. 

But my Mississippi Kite story wasn’t over.  The next day, soon after starting our long drive home to NC, we were passing through northeastern MD on I-95 and there was another Mississippi Kite catching cicadas over the highway.  Quite a nice exclamation point to the trip.

Mississippi Kite was #277 for my DE list and #332 for my MD list.  Those are the 6th and 7th states where I’ve seen this species as a rarity (the brown-shaded states in my statebird map below).  The blue states are those where I’ve seen it in its regular range; the cross-hatched states are the last 2 in its normal range where I’ve yet to see it.

A Most Unexpected Alcid, Block Island Ferry, Rhode Island, June 1, 2021

A late May and early June 2021 trip to the Mid-Atlantic and New England states gave me an opportunity to add a few species to my statelists in the region.  Although the primary focus was to visit relatives, there’s always time to squeeze in at least a little birding.  Since I used to live in the area my statelists there are pretty good, but there are usually at least a few targets to hope for – often there is a rarity or two that might be around when I’m in town, and occasionally a few remaining regular species that I haven’t yet run into. 

After our first stop in PA it was on to visit relatives in Rhode Island.  I had recently spent the last 25 years birding extensively throughout New England so I had a very good list in RI.  As a result I wasn’t too surprised that no targets popped up on my eBird RI Needs Alert.  But that didn’t stop me from making a couple quick trips to the coast with the family just to see the regular coastal birds that I’ve missed so much since moving to the NC mountains a couple years ago. 

But without a doubt the greatest opportunity for RI birding on the trip was on our ferry rides to and from Block Island on June 1.  I have taken the Block Island ferry many times over the years, always perched near the bow hoping to see some pelagic species passing by.  I’ve called it “a poor man’s pelagic trip” because your chances are limited to hoping that the path of the ferry comes close to a passing pelagic bird for what is likely to be an oh so brief observation.  Despite these long odds, I’ve been successful over the years in seeing 3 Shearwater species, both Storm-Petrels, and 3 Alcid species from the ferry.  On this trip the chances of getting a new statebird were remote at best, so I just realistically hoped to see one pelagic bird of any type – another opportunity to re-acquaint myself with species I hadn’t seen in a couple years. 

The boat trip to Block Island started well enough with a small flock of Laughing Gulls just outside Galilee Harbor.  Plus a couple Common Loons and several Gannets flew by as we motored south.  But otherwise, bird sightings were limited to just a few Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls and several Common Terns.  And then on one of my scans far to the east I picked up a small dark bird with rapid wing beats flying southwest generally toward the boat.  It was an Alcid of some type – seemingly one of the smaller species.  I kept my binoculars trained on the bird as it approached.  As it got closer I could confirm it was one of the smaller Alcids, and could now see the two-toned dark above and white below look.  And finally, as it crossed right in front of the bow of the boat I could see a white face, black chest band, and the clincher – large triangular orange bill.  Amazingly I had an Atlantic Puffin!  An exceptionally rare RI bird in winter and the first summer RI record in eBird.  My thoughts instantly went to my late birding friend Denny Abbott who spent his entire life focused on birding throughout New England.  He saw all the Alcid species in RI except for Puffin, and we made several winter trips together on the ferry where Denny’s sole target was the Atlantic Puffin.  Alas he was never able to add it to his RI statelist. 

It was my only pelagic species on the trip but it sure was a great one!

Atlantic Puffin was #335 for my RI state list – my 3rd state along with ME and MA for this species. 

A Not-Too-Cooperative Trumpeter Swan, Newville, Pennsylvania, May 25, 2021

A late May and early June 2021 trip to the Mid-Atlantic and New England states gave me an opportunity to add a few species to my statelists in the region.  Although the primary focus was to visit relatives, there’s always time to squeeze in at least a little birding.  Since I used to live in the area my statelists there are pretty good, but there are usually at least a few targets to hope for – often there is a rarity or 2 that might be around when I’m in town, and occasionally a few remaining regular species that I haven’t yet run into. 

The first stop was in south-central PA, so I set up an eBird Needs Alert for that state prior to our visit.  Lots of “needs” popped up, though of course PA is a large state.  So with limited time I had to narrow the list down to the nearby counties.  A few of the less common but regular migrants were on the list, but they would surely move on by the time I arrived.  Instead, my attention went to nearly daily reports of Trumpeter Swans in Newville in Cumberland County.  It was a nesting pair in a small marsh along a public road in Newville, back for at least their second consecutive year.  It would be a bit of a drive so it would be my only birding stop for the visit.  But since they sounded like a pretty reliable pair of birds, it seemed like the right target to pursue. 

I was out of the house early on May 25 but was slowed by an accident along my route.  The delay meant I’d only have a few minutes to look for the birds but I wasn’t too concerned.  When I finally arrived at the marsh I pulled up slowly to this nice wetlands, fully expecting to almost instantly see 1 or 2 large white birds with a quick scan. 

But there were no white birds to be seen.  I drove the length of the marsh not once, but twice, and still didn’t see the Swans.  I pulled over on the shoulder and got out for a closer inspection.  Despite several binocular scans I still couldn’t find the Swans.

I was thinking of giving up when I noticed a car driving up toward me slowly.  My first thought was he was going to confront me for trespassing (even though I was on the shoulder of a public road).  But then the optimist in me thought wouldn’t it be nice if he was actually coming to help me find the Swans.  He got out of the car and greeted me with “Are you looking for the Swans?”  He was the owner of the farm across the road and had watched the Swans fly out of the marsh just a few minutes earlier.  But he said not to worry, they were just out feeding – they usually head to the large pond just to the west - and typically come back in about 20 minutes. 

That was all very heartening, but I had run out of time.  I waited a couple more minutes at the marsh, and then decided to try to see them at the pond.  I had driven by the pond on my way to the marsh and noticed that there were only limited views of the water through the vegetation.  But it was still worth the try.  I started driving slowly by the pond and just as I got to the first opening there was a Swan flying by (with a black bill eliminating a Mute Swan) heading toward the marsh.  I quickly turned around and got back to the marsh just in time to see the Swan heading off to the north over the farm fields.  Not the most satisfying of views but good enough.  And good thing that the farmer came by to talk to me – without his information I probably would have left before it returned.

When I lived in the Mid-Atlantic through the early 1990s the only Swan species in the area were Tundras (formerly Whistling) and Mutes.  Trumpeters had been extirpated from most of its former range, including the entire eastern portion of its range, by the late 1800’s.  But several reintroduction programs across the US and in Canada have successfully brought Trumpeter Swans back to the area.  And even in some cases to areas where they weren’t likely present originally.  More details can be found at this website – www.trumpeterswansociety.org

Trumpeter Swan was #243 for my PA list.  In my statebird map below, the blue states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range, and the tan states are those where I’ve seen it outside its normal range.  At least that’s based on range maps in recent field guides - Trumpeters are now more likely through many states outside of the ranges shown in the guides.  Lastly the cross-hatched states are those in its range where I’ve yet to see this species.