Marbled Godwit and the Newmarket, NH Kites

Sunday morning found Pam and I heading north to one of our favorite spots - Parker River NWR on Plum Island. We haven't had much opportunity this summer to head that way - and with gas prices being what they are, the 100+ mile round trip isn't something we'll do often. But, a Marbled Godwit had been reported at the south end of the island, which is also where the Piping Plovers and Least Terns nest, and there are always good shorebirds, gulls, etc to be seen, so we decided that it would be a good day to go. The godwit was quite close and gave a large number of birders excellent looks.

As expected there were plenty of other birds also - the typical Semi-palmated Plovers and Sandpipers, a White-rumped Sandpiper, Piping Plovers, Least and Common Terns, and Great Black-backed, Herring, Ring-billed, and Bonapart's Gulls. This is one of my favorite photos that I've taken of terns to date...


Plum Island is also a staging area for Tree Swallows to gather before migrating south in huge flocks. In August the numbers start to become staggering. This phenomenon is beginning now, and there wasn't a moment on the island where you couldn't see hundreds (and at many times thousands) by simply looking up.

We then stopped for a quick lunch at Bob Lobster on the Plum Island Turnpike and I decided that I wanted to go further north to Newmarket NH to see the Mississippi Kites that are nesting there. This really is a remarkable event. It seems that birders are for the most part being respectful both of the birds and of the property owners in the area, which is nice to see. I was there for about an hour, and watched adults bringing food to the nest. A pattern was quickly discernible - they would fly in and land on a branch across the street, adjust the food that they brought, then go to the nest to feed the chick. After feeding, they would fly back out to the same branch, and preen a bit, and take off to hunt again. The nest itself is quite difficult to see - usually you only get glimpses of a bundle of sticks. I expect that if you got closer to the tree or under it, you might be able to see it better, but I wasn't going to try. And there really isn't any need to. The light wasn't great for photos (very backlit) but the adults provided crippling looks!

Adult after coming back from nest.

Preparing for takeoff...

Heading off to hunt

Hunting

Food acquired