Mike,

I also drove over to Spokane for the holiday weekend. One Friday I saw
several hawks but spent no time identifying them. My parents and I went
birding on Sunday and counted 25+ hawks between Spokane and Ritzville. At
least 5 of those were Swainson's. We observed all three morphs.

I know that between exits 188 & 196 this year there were 4 pairs of
Swainson's Hawks nesting off the frontage road in a rather small area (a
mile or two). Two of them had the most unlikely looking nests -- just a few
branches tossed on top of a utility pole!! They hardly looked like they'd
keep anything in them! Anyway, three pairs had 3 chicks in their nests and
the fourth pair had two. When I drove by at the end of June all the chicks
looked pretty big. Maybe what you saw were those families. I know that for
the last 3 years now one or more pair of Swainson's has nested along that
stretch of road.

Laurinda
LANGLIN at WSDOT.WA.GOV