Mike wrote -

>>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.

<cut>

Then Dennis answered -

>The only other explanation that comes to my mind is that there is an
>unusually high density of grasshoppers in that area. Swainson's Hawks
>often concentrate where there are lots of them, in North America as well as
>South America.

I spent the last week of July and most of August at Fort Nelson in the
northeast corner of BC this summer, only 1 degree of latitude south of the
60th parallel. When I arrived, there was a tremendous grasshopper hatch
ongoing on the lawns and aprons of the airport where I worked. The hatch
diminished slowly but surely during my stay there. Species which I saw take
advantage of this food supply included:

Sandhill Crane (locals, not migrants)
Am. Kestrel
Ring-billed Gull (sporting the juvenal plumage of their first summer)
Upland Sandpiper (cool bird; flock of 8 at airport one day)
Am. Golden-Plover
Common Raven (22, mostly juv., in the parking lot at work one day!)
Am. Crow
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Am. Robin

Species also on the grass but not observed eating grasshoppers (although I
may have just missed this) included:

Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Baird's Sandpiper
Canada Goose

When I lived in Fort Nelson eight years ago, the Eastern Kingbirds tanked
up on the berries of the Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) in August
before departing southward. It seems that given the choice before migrating
(the dogwood bushes were still in the same place), the kingbirds prefer
protein to fruit. For one of the very few times in my life, I was able to
witness the sustained buildup of bird numbers at a good staging area (Fort
Nelson airport in this case) and also their wholesale departure. Most of
August there was on the warm side. However, a weak cold front moved down
from the Northwest Territories on the 23rd around sunrise. By 2 PM, not a
single bird remained at the airport except for the geese and cranes, most
having taken the ride on the cool north wind. Even the flocks of swallows
had disappeared except for one or two Barn Swallow pairs frantically
feeding late broods. There was some fill-in of migrants from farther north
during the ensuing few days but the big numbers were gone. I'm just sorry
that I had to return home so soon. Right about now, the bountiful longspur
migration will be starting as well as the unforgettable skeins of Sandhill
Cranes winging southeastward. There is something to be said for living in
various places... because if you stay in one place, you will never know
what you are missing.

- Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca