Re: [nfc-l] Night Migrating Raptors

[Jeffrey Buler]

Very cool observation! Swallow-tailed kites are known to migrate at night over water between Florida and Cuba. See the linked thesis by Gina Zimmerman who tracked kites with satellite and radio transmitters. http://www.bio.georgiasouthern.edu/bio-home/chandler/Zimmerman.pdf Cheers, Jeff Jeffrey Buler, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology University of Delaware 246 Townsend Hall Newark, DE, USA 19716 Office: 302-831-1306 Mobile: 302-723-0156 Fax: 302-831-8889 http://ag.udel.edu/enwc/faculty/Buler.htm Center for Managed Ecosystems On 3/1/2012 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 Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NFC-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! --