3 Mississippi Kites + Bear Swamp

Up to 3 Mississippi Kites were seen soaring over the Beanery yesterday. Birders have wondered and hypothesized about nesting by this species in the recent past, or future, or even right now - with MIKI's already nesting to the north, e.g. New Hampshire, it seems only a matter of time for Cape May or elsewhere in NJ.

Yesterday was our first day operating the Bear Swamp MAPS banding station, in Cumberland County outside Dividing Creek. It was slow, but we caught several Worm-eating Warblers and had Ovenbird and Black-and-white Warbler recaptures, more on the latter as we learn more. An Ovenbird wandered about the forest floor almost at our feet as she gathered nesting material and carried it off - that's the next fun thing for woodland birding, finding nests or otherwise confirming nesting by behavior. We also heard several Kentucky Warblers deep in the forest, and the usual Summer Tanagers and dawn Whip-poor-wills could be heard along Route 555. Add Acadian Flycatcher and Yellow-billed Cuckoo to the list of birds one might find in the area (we heard several of each), or in Belleplain State Forest, which is where we're off to now.