Tweeters,

The news about the poisoned Swainson's hawks has me thinking about the
birds that nest in eastern Washington. The Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has conducted nest surveys of varying intensity over
the years and, in the past, the Swainson's hawk was a State Candidate
for listing. It is likely that it might have warranted a "Sensitive"
status classification based primarily on its use of black locust and other
trees that are being lost without replacement. Many Swainson's hawk nest
trees (including all of the black locusts) are exotic trees planted
primarily for shade in the days when there were lots of small family farms.
Now that the small family farm is on the way out, the shade trees grow old
and die and are not replaced. I think that Marc Bechard's research also
indicated some benefits to Swainson's hawks from shrub-steppe cover rather
than croplands, however I would say that they appear to do well surrounded
by croplands (probably depends on the crop).

WDFW never proceeded with the listing process on the Swainson's hawk. We did
conduct an extensive nesting survey in 1986 and documented 175 nesting pairs.
Overall, there was the perception that Swainson's hawks were the most
abundant nesting buteo in the core of their range in Washington. They are
found in environments that are highly altered and little resemble natural
conditions. Given their association with these agriculturally altered areas
(and their use of exotic trees), it seems likely that this species was less
abundant prior to European settlement.

We have recently initiated down-grading the Swainson's hawk from a Candidate
to a Monitor species (which means we will track nesting locations and conduct
limited surveys but expend little effort to influence land management for the
species).

My understanding of our budget suggests that there is little likelihood that
a Swainson's hawk nesting survey could be completed during 1996. In view
of the mortalities in Argentina, might it not be a good idea? Are volunteers
potentially available (and equipped with their own funds for transportation) to
do the nest checks?

On another note, I saw a hermit thrush on February 3 at Timepiece Arabians
off of Libby Road just northeast of Olympia. I was excited to see it.

I found northwestern salamander egg masses along Dempsey Creek in Thurston
County on February 10 and the freeze damage on their top sides suggested that
they had been laid prior to the arctic blast, perhaps around January 28.
This is a very early egg-laying date for this species, the earliest I have
seen.

Tree frogs are croaking. The strange thing is that they are very loud in one
area of an immense flooded pasture/wetland complex and virtually silent in
adjacent areas that look similar and that I know will get busy a little later
on. I had a woman call to tell me she had a problem with frogs keeping her
and her two year old awake at night. I thought she must have a breeding
pond outside her window but on further questioning found out there was no
breeding pond, just *one* frog!! They do have a big voice for a little frog.

Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capital Way N
Olympia WA 98501-1091
mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov