Hello, fellow tweets,

My husband, Steven, and I decided to return to our NE Seattle apartment
from our house in Port Orchard by way of Highway 6 west of Chehalis
yesterday. Yes! We were in search of the white-tailed kite(s) that had
been reported from time to time in the Adna area west of Chehalis on state
highway 6. We started the search in the vicinity rather late in the
afternoon--around 4-4:30 P.M. Following the directions given on the
transcription of a previous WA rba (thank you, Bird Brain) we saw some
interesting birds, some unidentified, but no kite. Steven decided we
should go back on a slightly different route rather than retracing the
roads already traveled, so instead of reversing the Highway 6-->Curtis
Hill Road-->Boistfort Road-->King Road route, we stayed on Boistfort Road
at the junction with Curtis Hill Road. We hadn't gone very far (no more
than 3 miles, if that (?)) when Steven said, "What's that bird in the top
of that tree?" All we could see at the moment, with no good place to pull
off the narrow road, was a silhouette against the soon-to-set sun. We
managed to go on along the road, which conveniently turned so that we
could see the bird in much better light. We also found a great place to
get off the road, just at the right spot (I know this sounds like a
fantasy). A sign at the wide turnoff and gravel road said, "Curtis
Poleyard--Weyerhaeuser," and there were no "keep out" or "No Trespassing"
signs in evidence. The bird had flown from its original perch but kindly
stayed in the vicinity and we soon respotted it. Sure enough, it looked a
lot like the white-tailed kite (called the black-shouldered kite in our
NGS Field Guide to the Birds of North America as well as in Peterson's
hawks book) pictured in our field guides. The black markings around the
slanted eyes were prominent, but we could not see yellow eyes themselves.
The bird stayed perched long enough for us to get good, clear, long looks
with the spotting scope (Spacemaster), then it flew. The deep beats of
its long, pointed wings were graceful, but the bird's hovering hunting
technique was even more impressive. My husband, who is not as avid a
birder as I, was quite impressed with this bird and thought it well worth
chasing across the countryside. Other birds we enjoyed watching on our
kite quest were a kestrel and a tree full of what we're pretty sure were
Bewick's wrens. The farming countryside also afforded many pleasant
views on our drive. --Anna Coles, Seattle & Port Orchard, WA
acoles at u.washington.edu