Hi all, Aaron Boone, Scott Albaugh, and I were at the now legendary Brass Ring Golf Course in Hocking County at 8 am this morning to look for the Mississippi Kites. Chad Galloway, the manager of the course, has taken a real interest in these kites and had been keeping me apprised of his observations. He recently called to report seeing three kites simultaneously, as did at least one other golf course employee. Before proceeding with this story, I really want to thank Chad and the management of the golf course for becoming so interested in these birds and keeping a sharp eye out for signs of nesting. I know that had it been possible, he would have let everyone inside to see them, but that just isn't possible on an active golf course without much disruption to the golfers and increased liability for the golf course. Nonetheless, I think everyone who wanted got to see the birds from adjacent Keller Road, as they often hunted over the nearby fairway or passed over that area in their wanderings. We found a fresh juvenile Mississippi Kite within minutes of arriving; boldly streaked with rich brown striping below, and intricately marked with whitish feather edgings above. Down feathers are still obvious in places, so it can't have been out of the nest too long. For the next three plus hours we were able to observe it at close range more or less constantly. It spent most of its time high in the dead branches of a shagbark hickory, sticking out like a sore thumb. It was even more conspicuous due to its begging calls, which began every time it spotted the adult bird. The calls were reminiscent of the first two notes of an Olive-sided Flycatcher song; two-toned whistles that carried a good distance. In Brian Wheeler's excellent book, Raptors of Eastern North America, he notes that "recently fledged youngsters are highly vocal". That's the truth! We saw the adult feed the juvenile numerous times. In every case where we could see the prey item well, it was a cicada. There were also plenty of migrating Green Darner dragonflies about and it may have been catching those as well. We quickly learned when a feeding was coming, as the youngster would start to whistle and this would increase intensity as the adult neared. When the adult kite neared the tree that the juvenile was in, it would deftly transfer the cicada from its foot to its bill, land near the young bird, and pass it over. On a few occasions the youngster made extended flights, once trying to grab a butterfly but failing miserably. From about 10-11 am, it sat in the same branches in the hickory and was fed 12 times by the adult - about once every five minutes. That's a lot of big, fat cicadas. I have a new respect for the acrobatic abilities of adults of this species. Catching fast, direct-flying cicadas can't be very easy. Its modus operandi seemed to be to patrol low over the forest canopy, watching for a cicada to fly from tree to tree and then pouncing. Then, it was off to the gluttonous juvenile with the bounty. We only saw one adult for sure; it had molted a few flight feathers and that gave the bird a distinctive pattern that enabled us to recognize it. We think we know the general area where the nest is, but dense foliage has kept us from finding it. Perhaps after the leaves fall it can be located. It is possible that the other adult has already headed south, and I suspect that the juvenile and the adult that is feeding it will soon be out of there. If you haven't seen them and want to, I'd recommend getting down there soon. There should be no problem getting looks at flying birds from the usual spots along Keller Rd. along the north side of the course. I took nearly 200 photos today, many of which came out well. Aaron took lots, too, and his digiscoped images are truly outstanding, including many of the adult passing food to the youngster. He also got lots of excellent video. I will post some photos on my blog http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/ later tonight if you are interested in seeing them. Please let us know if you see the kites after today. It would be useful to know when they depart. It will also be interesting to see if they return here next year to nest. This is the first confirmed nesting record of Mississippi Kite in Ohio. Jim McCormac Jim McCormac Ohio Division of Wildlife 2045 Morse Rd., G-3 Columbus, Ohio 43229 614-265-6440 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]