Tweeters,

I posted the following regarding birding the eastern Moxee April 4 in the
afternoon:

> >No Swainson's Hawks, but an unexpected number of Ferruginous Hawks.
Local
> >nesters? Non-breeders? Migrants? I don't know. Is anybody in
Tweeterland
> >willing to share their insight on Ferruginous Hawk status in this part
of
> >Washington (away from the well-documented Hanford Site and
Franklin/Walla
> >Walla County nesting sites)?

Michael Hobbs set out on a Ferruginous quest with no luck:

> Well, following in Andy's footsteps, I went to try to find one of my
nemesis birds, the Ferruginous Hawk. I headed east on Route 24 from Moxie
at about 10:00 this morning, on a beautiful sunny day with light winds.
Temp was probably around 45-50. I stopped at just about every mile marker
for about 5 minutes, plus I stopped for every hawk I saw between mile
markers. I found many Red-tails,
> 2-3 Rough-legged Hawks, 4 or 5 Northern Harrier, and a Kestrel. No
Ferruginous Hawks, no Prairie Falcons.

I answer by stating that I consistently have had better luck with
Ferruginous Hawks in the afternoon in the Moxee Valley. I offer no
explanation for timing being perhaps important in this particular location
for this species.

Randy Hill, biologist at Columbia NWR also offered the following regarding
Ferruginous Hawks near Othello:

"We have had more sightings this spring on or near Columbia NWR than at any
time since I've been here. A likely nest [I delete specific location info
just in case Randy doesn't want it divulged], Also showed up (a pair) east
of Columbia NWR on [again specific location omitted to respect raptor nest
sensitivity]."


Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA