CONGRATS, KITES!
This year all eleven tracked kites successfully crossed the Gulf of Mexico and reached their nesting grounds in the southeastern United States!
10 APRIL
Pritchard is back!! After making no northward progress in his first attempt to cross and being rerouted to Cuba, Pritchard recovered for two days. He tried again, leaving Cuba near Puerto Escondido. Instead of flying straight to South Florida, easterly winds pushed Pritchard to fly near-parallel to the state for a full 48 hours before reaching Port St. Joe in the Panhandle. He then zipped back to last year's nesting grounds in Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina.
3 APRIL
We bit our nails all week as we watched the remaining five GPS-tracked Swallow-tailed Kites embark across the deep blue Gulf of Mexico. All five birds fought strong headwinds.
Wilson left first and after 64 hours over water, rested quickly atop the first tree he saw on the Sarasota County, Florida, shore, and returned to his former nesting grounds. A few days later, Hobolochitto Creek, Apopka, and Sawgrass left. Hobolochitto Creek streamed north to Louisiana in just over 24 hours, Apopka reached Mississippi in about two days, and Sawgrass hit the Florida Panhandle after 48 hours.
Pritchard had a rough flight. He battled the wind just off the Yucatan Peninsula for a day before redirecting to Cuba. We hope he's resting safe there as we have not had any data from him since 27 March.
27 MARCH
JAX is back after an impressive ~78 hours over the Gulf of Mexico! Her data show she headed east towards South Florida in the first 24 hours, but the winds changed and prevented any further eastward progress. After 6 hours, JAX turned and sailed north to reach the Florida Panhandle on the 24th. Phew!
Wilson is next to cross. Winds are currently from the north (the worst direction for kites) so we hope he waits a little bit. Pritchard is now in Belize, Hobolochitto Creek and Sawgrass in Honduras, and Apopka still in Colombia.
20 MARCH
All the kites have made it through the Andes Mountains, and five kites are now back at their nesting grounds! Pritchard is back online after being silent since 15 Feb, and is now in Panama. The urge to pass on their genes is strong, and many kites will start nesting very soon after they reach "home."
13 MARCH
Okaloacoochee and Babcock made it safely to Florida! Both birds left from the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula to cross the Gulf of Mexico. Even though OK left a day earlier, they both reached Florida around the same time near Panama City and Steinhatchee, Florida, respectively. Sarasota and Lacombe are next in line to cross the Gulf, and Bayou Vincent is not far behind.
JAX is through the Andes Mountains and starting the journey through Central America. Apopka, Sawgrass, and Wilson are set to cross the mountain range next. Hobolochitto Creek and Pritchard are taking their time to reach the Andes and are still in Brazil.
Weather can make or break a kite's Gulf of Mexico crossing. A good tailwind eases the kite's effort, but a strong northerly headwind can cause kites to stall out over the water. Fingers crossed for more successful Gulf crossings!
6 MARCH
Guess who's in Central America?!
The radio silence has broken for a few kites, including Okaloacoochee, who's been offline for over a month! She is now in Panama along with Lacombe and Sarasota. Babcock is the farthest along in Nicaragua. Bayou Vincent has crossed the Andes Mountains, and Apopka has moved farther north in Colombia.
Hobolochitto Creek must have found some delicious food to be still hanging around in Peru. We're still waiting on data from JAX, Sawgrass, Wilson, and Pritchard.
27 FEBRUARY
Radio silence. Most of the GSM-tracked kites are far from cell coverage now as they cross through the remote Amazon in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. They may find great foraging opportunities and stay a while to pack on energy-rich fat - which is exactly what Lacombe, Hobolochitto Creek, and Bayou Vincent (tagged by our colleague Dr. Jenn Coulson) have been doing for the last two weeks.
Waiting for data is not exciting, but it is sometimes a reality of remote tracking. It could be a few weeks before we "hear" from many of these birds, and by that time they could be well into Colombia or through the Andes Mountains.
4 FEBRUARY
All but two of the tagged Swallow-tailed Kites are on the move! Lacombe is still in the lead in western Brazil, 360 miles ahead of Hobolochitto Creek. He will soon approach the first obstacle along the kites' migratory route, the Andes Mountains.
Bayou Vincent and Sarasota have moved nearly 700 miles since last week to join Apopka and Babcock in Rondonia, Brazil. Wilson has caught up with this group, too.
Sawgrass said, "See ya, boys!" and has left Pritchard and Okaloacoochee at their favorite winter hangout while she begins to migrate north.
29 JANUARY
Data don't lie, and today they show that Lacombe, Hobolochitto Creek, Babcock, Bayou Vincent, and Sawgrass are on their way north!
Protein-rich insects have been turned into fat reserves that sustain Swallow-tailed Kites during the migration season. Even though they can eat on the wing as they travel, we may see them stop along their routes to rest and replenish their energy in food-rich hot spots.
Each kite is named for the location where it was tagged. Lacombe, Hobolochitto Creek, and Bayou Vincent were tagged in Louisiana, Pritchard and Wilson in South Carolina, and the remainder in Florida.
