[Maine-birds] SWALLOW-TAILED KITE - Dennysville, 15 Sep

This morning, Chris Bartlett, Woody Gillies, Fyn Kynd, and I were able to find a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE that had been reported in Dennysville (Washington County), along Route 86. Locals today shared that the bird has been seen daily since 7 September. Throughout our observation, the kite seemed to be favoring hunting over Denny's River, catching and consuming aerial insects (apparently large dragonflies) on the wing, a promising sign it may stick around until the weather gets too cold for that food source. The bird made multiple circuits from the bridge at 86/King Street (near Sawmill Drive - Private) and toward the intersection of "The Lane" and Main Street. Traffic along Route 86 was light (as expected on a Sunday morning) but drivers were traveling quite fast so I don't recommend birding from the Route 86 roadside. There is parking on Main Street along Denny's River (https://goo.gl/maps/3i7bs6Z8G1N1VXy26), the Sunrise Trail bridge is parallel with the 86 bridge, with the Snowmobile/ATV club nearby (https://goo.gl/maps/NTyQkhvGBini4g9H6), and the Dennysville Cemetery (https://goo.gl/maps/EyJsnW2b2hpJ7cb26) is fairly elevated and should also have potential view points. Locals were extremely friendly and helpful but please use good judgement in parking and be respectful of private roads/property.

The timing of arrival of this bird is suspiciously correlated with the passage of Hurricane Dorian but there has been a northward push of Swallow-tailed Kites over the past month. Several kites have been in Illinois, including central (24 Aug - 4 Sep) and northern (22 Aug) parts of that state, central (18 Aug - 4 Sep) and western (10 Sep) Ohio, eastern Pennsylvania (16 Aug - 1 Sep), and recently southern Quebec (12 Sep), so perhaps this bird is part of a larger movement occurring.

Also, Will Nichols passed along a second-hand report (with photos) of two Black Skimmers that were seen in Addison. The exact location and time/date are unknown at this point but good to know there are more along the Maine coast.

(Bar Harbor Pelagic report and eBird lists coming soon!)

Good birding,


Doug Hitchcox
Maine Bird Atlas - Outreach Coordinator
Maine Audubon - Staff Naturalist
207-781-2330 x237
dhitchcox@maineaudubon.org

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