Heard the distinctive calls of the Mississippi kite (Ictinia mississippiensis) while working at my desk, which is somewhat unusual – I’m never at my desk they don’t call very often, usually wheeling overhead silently. So I went out with the long lens and eventually snagged a nice shot of one perched in a tree nearby.
The bird passing overhead is a blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata,) a pair of which were very unhappy about the presence of the kite, to which the kite paid little heed; this does serve as a great illustration of the size of Mississippi kites, though. The behavior of the jays was such that I would have said there was a nest nearby if it had been anywhere near that season, which it is not. But then again, jays are pretty territorial overall and have been making a fuss the past few days anyway.
Curiously, this appears to be the first time that I’ve ever featured a blue jay, which seems quite odd to me until I recall that they were almost never seen where we used to live, why, I couldn’t say. But the very thought made me dig out one of the earliest digital photos that I have of them, just shy of 20 years old now, a couple of recently released juvie rehab patients being clumsy with a tray of mealworms – I just loved the expressiveness of the frame.
