Saturday, May 13, 2006, 10:53 pm
Lovely weather for kites
UKARUMPA, PNG — With four straight rain-free days (a record since I arrived two months ago), we’d begun to think the dry season had finally come. Once the fog cleared, this morning was as bright and beautiful as the others.
Black Kites, Brahminy Kites, and Pacific Swallows ruled the big blue sky. We could see the hills and sky again after two days of smoky conditions. These grasslands are maintained by fire, as they were for centuries or even millennia before the white men came.
Pied Bushchats, Hooded Munias, and Long-tailed Shrikes looked beautiful in the sunshine. I was surprised and pleased to find a young Dollarbird high up on a radio antenna. Evidently they’re rare but not unheard of up here. The bird’s extensively brown body and dark bill showed me that it was young yet.
I managed to catch one good image of a Black Kite, Milvus migrans.
By afternoon, clouds gathered, and half an inch of rain poured down. We’re hoping it was the wet season’s dying breath.
David J. Ringer
on 11 Jan 2007 at 10:33 am 1.Search and Serendipity: A Birder’s Blog » Misty morning birds said …
[...] A short time later, it began to rain, as it has done every day since Saturday. [...]