Tweeters,

I have seen a handful of Goshawks in the Puget Lowlands (i.e. at or a
round sea level) in the past 15 years. Most have been immature birds
during winter months. I saw them twice in the urban habitat of West
Seattle in the mid 1990's.

I have seen Goshawks only three times in the lowlands during breeding
season, all three times they were adult birds. The first was at
McChord AFB in 1997 or 1998, I don't remember the exact date. This
was a adult bird flying in circles above the tree tops (in
appropriate breeding habitat) giving a chattering call, which is
typically given in their home range. I saw another bird whiz through
the same location at light speed, below the tree tops the following
day or so. I never saw another Goshawk at McChord or Fort Lewis. I
have to conclude that they did not breed at that location as I spent
five full seasons there in the field nearly every day. If they were
breeding in the area, I would assume that I would have seen them more
often.

The only other time that I saw one in the breeding season in the
Puget Lowlands was in my yard in Tumwater. in June of 2000 (I think).
It passed through, again at near light speed, just over my roof top.
I have a brief but very good look at it.

I also recall that in the late 1990's a falconer had located a nest
in the South Puget Sound that was almost water side. As is often the
case with falconers, the exact location was never given up.

Russell

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Russell, Mary, Emily, Willie, and Paddy
219 South Second Ave
Sequim WA 98382
(360) 582-3781
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On Dec 14, 2007, at 9:13 AM, Kelly McAllister wrote:

> I agree with Jim Flynn. If someone posts a link to a website or
> blog, inviting Tweeters subscribers to take a look, it's
> appropriate that Tweeters subscribers who have a critique to share,
> go ahead and share it with the group. It's not that different from
> someone posting a link to a picture of a bird that want help
> identifying, having me post a message to the group misidentifying
> it, and having others post messages correcting my
> misidentification. It happens frequently and it's a growth
> experience for everyone involved.
>
> And, now that I've totally discredited my own abilities, I'll
> mention that I've been a fairly active and engaged birder (and
> wildlife biologist) in the Puget Sound lowlands since 1980 with
> annual Christmas Bird Counts and midwinter waterfowl inventories
> getting me for prolonged periods during the winter. The only
> Northern Goshawks I've positively identified near sea level in the
> Puget Sound region were immature birds, during winter. Both were in
> the South Bay area north of Olympia, one hanging out looking at
> chickens in a pen off of Lemon Road and the other perched on poles
> along the pier of the old Naval facility on the Budd Inlet waterfront.
>
> Wahl, Tweit, and Mlodinow's "Birds of Washington" suggests rarity
> or complete absence from the Puget lowlands, at least on the east
> side of Puget Sound.
>
> I'd be among the first to admit that may be something amiss with
> the level of effort and expertise that's been applied to the
> question in all areas of the Puget Lowlands but I'd reject any
> suggestion that it's a regularly occurring species throughout the
> region.
>
> You can believe the frequent sightings in the north Sound if you
> want to and I can show you many other questionable information you
> may wish to believe, like maps of sightings of wolves and grizzly
> bears from all over Washington state and the maps of Lynx extending
> well into Oregon.
>
>
> And I just had a bit of a dogfight between a crow and an accipiter
> outside my window. Wonder what it was... a goshawk maybe? Yeah,
> that's it...
>
> Kelly McAllister
> Olympia, Washington
>
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