Greetings... Sunday afternoon there appeared a sighting on the Birding in
Cincinnati website of a swallow-tailed kite that was apparently seen in West
Chester on Saturday, May 22. According to Karen Wolnik, the kite was seen
flying around a field along West Chester Road, east of Cincinnati-Dayton
Road. For whatever reason, the report didn't make it out until Sunday
afternoon. I drove to the area around 5:00 p.m., today and didn't see the
bird. For what it's worth, here are some directions and a few notes about
the area where the kite was reported, which I posted to the Birding in
Cincinnati website:

"I did not find the swallow-tailed kite reported below, but the area looks
promising should one be around. If anyone is interested in looking, from
I-75 take Union Center Blvd east to Cincinnati-Dayton Road. Left (north) on
Cincinnati-Dayton Road. Just after Eagle Tee Driving Range and Putt-Putt is
a UDF, which is at the corner of West Chester & Cincy-Dayton Roads. Turn
right and the stretch of road Karen Wolnik reported the kite from runs about
1/2 mile or so to a railroad underpass. Part of the Mill Creek crosses
beneath West Chester road, creating a riparian corridor that runs through
some open field areas abutting the driving range at Eagle Tee--to my
amazement, this area is not entirely built up, and it's actually a pleasant
and pretty little drive. There's also quite a bit of open, grassy fields and
wooded patches along the road ("quite a bit" by West Chester standards, that
is). There was nowhere I could find to pull off West Chester road in this
area for a look around, but one could get a good view of the terrain and
whatever is flying around from the parking lot at Eagle Tee."

I haven't talked with the person who reported the kite, but I'm told via a
second hand conversation that she's seen these birds a number of times over
the years when she lived in the southeastern U.S.--not that one would have
to have a lot of experience to ID a swallow-tailed kite! She said the bird
spent quite a bit of time flying around a field along the side of the road,
and that it was between Cincinnati-Dayton Road and a narrow railroad
underpass along West Chester Road. I believe the field she referred to would
be along the south side of West Chester Road, on property that runs into the
driving range at Eagle Tee.

It's a tantalizing report, that's for sure! I wish there were more details,
but that's all there is for now.

Take care,
---Mike Busam
West Chester, OH