This is a rather delayed report of observations I made Friday Aug. 30. I
was traveling east on I-90 about 5-10 miles east of Moses Lake. For a
distance of about 12 miles I counted at least 50 Swainson's Hawks,
including one kettle composed of at least 30 individuals. I didnt see any
Swainson's hawks before or after this particular stretch of highway. On
the way back home on Monday I counted 12 Swainson's in this area.
Perhaps this is some sort of migratory path these hawks follow through our
state? Has anyone else observed a similar phenomenon? It appeared that it
was in this area that the terrain changes from the Columbia Plateau to the
rolling hills of the palouse. Perhaps the hawks are able to take some sort
of advantage of the change in terrain.

Mike Blue