Thanks, Jim! As I have mentioned, this will go down as one of the more memorable night migrations for me, thus far.
On the flip side of what you have observed, have others observed spring-time trans-Gulf migrating Swallow-tailed Kites approaching land at sunrise from the Western shores of Florida (or Southern shores of the Panhandle)? Very cool stuff! Sincerely, Chris T-H -- Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes TARU Product Line Manager and Field Applications Engineer Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 W: 607-254-2418 M: 607-351-5740 F: 607-254-1132 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp From: Jim Tate [mailto:j...@tate-tate.us] Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 10:37 AM To: Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes Cc: NFC-L Subject: RE: [nfc-l] Night Migrating Raptors Chris- Thank you for your neat observations, and the pictures. I want to share a similar observation with you. When leading a birding trip to Yucatan for Audubon in late February 1976 I encountered apparently migrant Swallow-tailed Kites coming off the Gulf at Rio Lagartos. We were walking east along the beach at what is now the Ria Lagartos Natural Area. Just at dawn we saw one, then two, then one kite flying SSW from the open water toward land. We recorded the observations in our field notes, but have no pictures. This observation would seem consistent with your observations at sea. If they had left the Cuban shore (nearest land?), they would have started about 100 miles away. If we used an average speed of 15mph (sheer guess), that would be a 7 hour flight. This speculation is just a BOTE guess that even starting at nightfall they could have been flying all night. If they started further away, or traveled more slowly, even starting during daylight would have put them at the coast of Yucatan at daylight. -TATE James Tate, Jr., Ph.D. | Research Associate | Smithsonian Institution Migratory Bird Center | National Zoological Park | T 202-841-2056 | Email j...@tate-tate.us<mailto:j...@tate-tate.us> James Tate, Jr. | Senior Fellow and Director | Ecological Economics and Ethics Program | Potomac Institute for Policy Studies | Ballston Metro Center Office Tower | 901 N. Stuart Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22203 Washington, DC 20007 T 202-841-2056| Email: jt...@potomacinstitute.org<mailto:jt...@potomacinstitute.org> James Tate, Jr. | Second Vice President Eastern Bird Banding Association. Email: j...@tate-tate.us<mailto:j...@tate-tate.us> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [nfc-l] Night Migrating Raptors From: Kenneth Victor Rosenberg <k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu>> Date: Thu, March 01, 2012 9:08 pm To: "Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes" <c...@cornell.edu<mailto:c...@cornell.edu>> Cc: NFC-L <nf...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:nf...@list.cornell.edu>> Chris, this is very cool! I'm sure there is a publishable note there..... Ken Rosenberg Conservation Science Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 607-254-2412 607-342-4594 (cell) k...@cornell.edu<mailto:k...@cornell.edu> On Mar 1, 2012, at 4:01 PM, Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes wrote: Below is a link of a few pictures I managed to capture of a couple of the individuals. Unfortunately, due to our operations, I was not able to take time for extensive documentation. It was a very neat spectacle to have witnessed. Some details are at right of the album at the link, below. https://picasaweb.google.com/112522159565855378380/NightMigratingRaptors Sincerely, Chris T-H Currently at sea in the Gulf of Mexico, aboard the M/V Emily Bordelon. On Mar 1, 2012, at 4:41 AM, Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes wrote: Although these birds weren’t making vocalizations, but it has been really cool to witness. I’m on the M/V Emily Bordelon about 150 miles WNW of Tampa, FL, working on recovering oceanographic research instruments. We’re conducting 24-hour operations with deck lights blazing. from approximately 07:10 to 07:25 GMT (02:10 to 02:25 AM EST) the deck crew and I observed at least three simultaneous SWALLOW-TAILED KITES, 1 Laughing Gull, and a single OSPREY approach the vessel during an extended full-stop drifts. This was at about N28 26.491 by W85 27.459. I managed to get some half-decent photos of the Kites as they drifted over the vessel. At another point, from approximately 08:40 to 09:20 GMT (02:40 to 03:20 AM EST) we were visited by at least two more night migrating SWALLOW-TAILED KITES. I did not obtain photos of those birds. This was at about N28 17.256 by W85 32.837. I imagine there are several birds in migration across the Eastern Gulf of Mexico at this point and we should expect to have more observations at the next couple of nighttime stations. Good birding! Sincerely, Chris T-H -- Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes TARU Product Line Manager and Field Applications Engineer Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 W: 607-254-2418 M: 607-351-5740 F: 607-254-1132 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp -- NFC-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes TARU Product Line Manager and Field Applications Engineer Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 W: 607-254-2418 M: 607-351-5740 F: 607-254-1132 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp -- NFC-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- NFC-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
