Rob,

Yep, we're becoming more and more convinced that they are Sawinson's. The
neighbor drovein and that didn't disturb the birds. They were absent
yesterday, but were back hauling sticks today before 6am. They are also
addind occassional green birch branches. The Petersen's Guide to Bird nests
shows a Swainson's nest that has birch branches in it. Coincidence?

It's going to hard getting any work done around here what with all this bird
watching.

Sue


At 10:02 PM 5/4/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Sue,
>
>in the central valley of California, Swainson's nest in the middle of
>cities with populations of 50-100,000 people, without seeming to be
>bothered by the activity. Speculation has been that they choose these sites
>because they prefer to nest in tall trees, and many of the taller trees in
>the surrounding areas have been cut down. But they definitely don't seem
>averse to human activity.
>
>As for i.d., the diagnostic field mark of Swainson's in flight are light
>underwing coverts and dark flight feathers, like a reverse turkey vulture.
>This will be quite striking on light morph birds, but even full on dark
>morphs will show darker flight feathers than underwing coverts, in my
>experience. Like red-tails, though, there are many plumage variations
>intergrading between light and dark morphs. Swainson's are also, at least
>in CA, very vocal, frequently calling with a repeated, upslurred "kree"
>while soaring. I've often heard them before seeing them.
>
>Hope this is helpful, keep us posted...
>
>Rob Saecker
>Olympia
>
>
>
>