I just started my second season as the assistant hawk counter at Hawk Ridge in Duluth, Minnesota. Well, I suppose it has been over 40 days since I started, so I have some catching up to do with everybody.
The entire research crew is back from last year. Karl Bardon, lead counter, Frank Nicoletti, banding director, and Chris Neri and Nova Mackentley, raptor banders, all returned for another fall season at Hawk Ridge. In addition, Sam Roberts joined the crew as this season's owl bander.
We have had a great start to the season, and there have been far too many things going on to cover in one post. Therefore, I'll start back at the beginning of September; the 6th to be exact. Although the title gives it away, we had an immature Mississippi Kite fly by the overlook. This was our second Mississippi Kite of the season. However, the first was in late August--before I started counting on September 1st. The kite flew in relatively close and stayed in view for a few minutes while it soared around with a couple of Osprey.
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| Immature Mississippi Kite, Hawk Ride Bird Observatory, Duluth, MN 9/6/2012 |
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| Immature Mississippi Kite, Hawk Ride Bird Observatory, Duluth, MN 9/6/2012 |
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| Immature Mississippi Kite, Hawk Ride Bird Observatory, Duluth, MN 9/6/2012 |
Mississippi Kites are a casual species in Minnesota, and are seen at Hawk Ridge on a regular basis. However, there are many years without a MIKI on record for Hawk Ridge.
On a closing note, I must apologize for the low quality of these photos. Sometimes it's too much to ask for great birds AND great photos.
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