Once again, Mississippi Kites seem to have had a difficult year nesting
in New Hampshire in 2022. Like last year, only a single nest was found
and only a single chick was confirmed to fledge. This despite the fact
that at least 4 pairs of kites were confirmed on territory with possibly
5 pairs. The Kites were first made famous by nesting in 2008 and this
is (at least) the 15th consecutive year that kites (between 1 and 4
pairs) have nested in New Hampshire in this isolated, rare, nesting colony.
A summary of the 5 Kite territories was as follows:
DURHAM - Kites in Durham have been somewhat regular in recent years, but
last year the nest failed, and it appears that this year's nest may have
failed also. Two Kites were observed soaring together over the UNH
campus on June 6, but subsequent reports were lacking. Finally, a pair
was reported roosting several nights in a row from a back yard not far
from recent nest sites in early July. This culminated in COPULATION on
the late date of July 6. This (to me) suggests a nest failure. By
early July, Kites are typically nearing hatch date, and shouldn't be
copulating and roosting like this without a nest. And the date is too
late for a new nesting attempt to be successful. Scattered reports of
single birds were widespread in Durham later in summer, but nothing to
suggest a new nest site.
NEWMARKET - Once again, the Kites of Newmarket have been a big mystery.
Who the heck knows what's going on? Up to two birds were seen in mid to
late May, but there were ZERO reports from June through July despite a
fair amount of searching. The next report from Newmarket was two birds
circling on August 5 and two birds perched on August 14. Two birds
perched together for "several hours" on August 16 suggests that they did
not raise any young since they should be feeding young at this date.
Last report of year of single bird on August 15.
STRATHAM #1 - This territory was first noted in 2017 and last year's
nest successfully fledged the only chick for the year. The pair
returned, but the nest tree (a black cherry) had been cut down!!!! There
were numerous sightings of birds at or near this territory (two together
on June 6 and June 8 and three together on June 23) but no regular
sightings in any given area. Sightings continued from nearby locations,
but it became unclear if these were from the Stratham #1 birds or the
Greenland birds or both. No nest found and I'm not optimistic.
STRATHAM #2 - This is a brand new territory and is the bright star for
New Hampshire's Kites during 2022. On June 4, a Kite was seen at a new
territory (far from the other territory in Stratham). This resulted in
a few additional sightings including a pair, but then nothing for over a
month. I was extremely happy to find the new nest on July 29 high up in
a white pine tree. This nest got a very late start and the chick was
probably only a week old or less at this time. In addition to the two
adults, a 3rd adult was seen on several occasions; however, it is not
clear that it helped feed the young bird or not. The chick did very
well and was fed cicadas, dragonflies, and even a monarch! It fledged
on August 29 or August 30, which is very late. But it continued to be
fed and was seen flying and attempting to catch food on September 10.
The young bird was last seen flying nearby on September 11 and hopefully
has a successful migration south.
GREENLAND - This territory was first noted in 2020 when they raised a
young. Last year's nest was apparently abandoned. This year, kites
returned again to the same area and rebuilt the nest and were seen
copulating on June 6!! But then everything fell apart. One was seen on
June 10, but NO OTHER SIGHTINGS from the immediate area of the nest were
reported for the rest of the summer. This is the same as last
year....rebuild nest, copulate, and then nothing! Frustrating.
Sightings from nearby may be overlap with Stratham #1 territory and it
isn't clear whether any nest was ever built elsewhere.
A summary of confirmed fledged Kites (and pairs of kites present) from
recent years in NH:
2017 - 0 (3 pairs)
2018 - 3 (3 pairs)
2019 - 2 (3 pairs)
2020 - 3 (3 pairs)
2021 - 1 (4 pairs)
2022 - 1 (4 or 5 pairs)
Thanks to all who helped out this year and contributed to this information.
PLEASE NOTE - IN THE FUTURE, I WILL BE DOING MY BEST TO KEEP THE
LOCATIONS OF THESE NESTS QUIET AND KEEP THE LOCATION SECRET IN EBIRD
POSTS, ETC. THE POPULARITY OF THESE BIRDS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS IS A MESSY
SITUATION WITH HOME OWNERS AND NEIGHBORS. The kites don't seem to care
much, but the people do.
Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA
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