Utah Bird Records Committee

  
Rec. # 2008-08
Mississippi Kite

Date:  30 May 2009
Type of material:  Clarification of the lighting issue
Source of Information: Ryan O'Donnell

Explanation of lighting for record #2008-08 - Written by  Ryan O'Donnell

 ...I did not mention this explicitly in my report but I should have: In the first part of the observation (Paragraph 1 of my Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics), the bird was flying north-south, but was to the east of me. That is, when I first saw it, it was northeast of me, it passed through my due east, and was last seen to the southeast of me (in this first observation). During this period of observation, when Craig did not see the bird and only I did, the bird was fully lit with the sun behind me. (I mentioned in my record that the bird was flying south at this point, but neglected to mention that its path was to the east of me.) In the second observation a few minutes later, the lighting issues are more of a concern because in that observation the bird was first spotted overhead and was flying directly west into the setting sun. Unfortunately I was more explicit about the lighting conditions for the second observation than the first one, where the lighting was better for judging the plumage tones of an essentially gray-scale bird.

[Addtional comment on a different subject].
...Also, although this is still my only observation of a MIKI, I saw several Plumbeous Kites over the winter in Colombia. Seeing this closely-related species in flight and perched only added to my confidence in this record - the movements and shape of the bird were identical to what I remembered seeing, although of course the MIKI did not have barring in the tail or obvious rufous in the primaries like a Plumbeous Kite.

Thank you,
Ryan