Hi Tweets!
I have been seeing a new sight in Beaver Valley on the Olympic Pen.--- an
American Kestrel seems to have taken up residence near Chimacum. I work
in Chimacum and drive Beaver Valley Road (now SR 19) every day. Over the
past 3 weeks I have seen this Kestrel several times, each sighting within
a short distance of mile marker 7. This week I saw him 3 times on the
same wire, eating what looked like mice and snakes. Yesterday he was
nice enough to be perched in a bush directly across the road from the
only wide spot, so I got to stop and take a good long look at close
range. He was unperterbed by traffic rushing by two feet from his nose
or a curious birder parked 8 feet away (me!). Does his frequent
appearences lately mean he is likely to nest nearby? I have not yet seen
any females and this is the first Kestrel I have seen along this stretch
in the 10 years I have been driving there. What kind of habitat do
Kestrels nest in? This is farmland edged by wooded slopes.

Joanne Schmitt
jschmitt at sprintmail.com

"The earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs,
but not every man's greed."
- Mahatma Gandi