Heading back to Colorado today, I set out for Hays, Kansas, my regular, half-way, overnight stop. I drove beneath cloudy skies for most of the 6-hour trip, encountering intermittent showers along the way. When I reached central Kansas, sunshine prevailed and the temperature had risen into the low eighties F.
Stopping to pick up a sandwich, I was waiting for the order when I spotted a pair of Mississippi kites circling overhead. Closer observation revealed twenty of the raptors above the city, perhaps the largest flock I have ever encountered. Indeed, though most of these kites summer across the Southern Plains, I have never observed them this far north or west. On the other hand, large flocks are common during migrations and this group was likely beginning their journey to southern South America, where they will spend the winter.
Having seen nothing of significant interest on the half-day drive (turkey vultures were, by far, the most common species) the kites were a special and unexpected treat. Such is the nature of birding; some of our most memorable sightings are those we least expected.
