A "near miss" on the recent SE Washington "grand birdathon" was Swainson's
Hawk! Where are they?!!? Only two years ago in the Lower Columbia Basin and
central eastern Washington, they were way far more numerous. Have eastern
Washington birders detected a noticeable decline in numbers this year, or is
this just my erroneous perception? Given the massive mortality due to
insecticide spraying in Argentina in recent years, I was just wondering if we
might now be seeing the "fallout" from this incident first reported two
winters ago. Or... is the conversion of grass and alfalfa lands of much of
the SE to wheat and other crop lands more likely contributing to my
perception of reduced numbers. Or... maybe a little of both?

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue, WA