Jane Kostenko and I headed to Elkton on Sunday for an attempt at the Swallow-tailed Kite. Sean had posted privately that there had been daily sightings until Thursday so we prayed for continuance through the weekend. It was not to be.

We arrived shortly after 0800. The weather was sparkling clear and breezy. Should have been ideal conditions for kites. Around 0900, Ray Kiddy arrived and a little while later, a couple from DC, arrived. We had a drive-by sighting of Mary Gustafson who was going to prowl around looking at other habitat in Maryland and Delaware and hoping to find kites in DE which isn't terribly far off to the east. Ray had to leave at 1230 and Jane and I and the DC folks left shortly before 1300. There were lots of Black and Turkey Vultures circling and quite a few Red-shouldered Hawks with a smattering of Red-tailed Hawks. We had an immature Bald Eagle and a Cooper's Hawk to round out the raptors for the day. During the entire stay, none of saw a single kite or either species.

So, if indeed there is a link between periodical cicadas and kites, this might be another data point in favor. Perhaps people further north should be watching for kites as the cicadas will likely linger there later as they will have emerged later. Sean noted that the kites appeared and maxxed out when the cicadas did. While we were there we only heard a couple of individual cicadas singing.

When we left Sean's neighborhood and got to Rt. 40, there was a virtual parking lot of eastbound traffic. We surmised that there had been an accident on I-95 and when a local station said something about an accident at the toll plaza in Delaware and traffic being diverted onto Rt. 40 at Rt. 272. I wonder if part of the reason why there weren't many people at Sean's house was because they couldn't get there. At least westbound 40 and southbound 95 were flowing.

I'm sure that Sean's neighbors will be glad that the kites and birders are gone. Sean and his family surely need to be recognized by MOS with a birder assistance commendation. I wonder how many top listers in MD ticked both species of kites in the last few weeks? Certainly the top 3 nailed the Swallow-tailed!

Tyler Bell

California, Maryland

Wave that flag...wave it wide and high!
Grateful Dead, U.S. Blues