Hi Tweets,



The Swainson's Hawks are coming! A post from the Arizona list serve. Buckeye is about 45 minutes west of Phoenix and is also one of the most reliable places to find a LeConte's Thrasher singing in January and February. And if you need an excuse to head south out of the rain, a Crescent-chested Warbler was reported at Arivaca Cienega.



Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2011 20:12:29 +0000

From: Melanie Herring <mherring5 at COX.NET<mailto:mherring5 at COX.NET>>

Subject: AZ: Buckeye Swainson's Hawks



Sat April 2 Buckeye at MC 85 and East of Watson. I am currently sitting under a kettle of 150 Swainson's hawks and in addition I just counted 100 sitting on the ground both sides of MC 85. Yesterday I had 129 on the ground in this same area. Other nice Kettles and ground concentrations can be found on Yuma rd, Lower Buckeye rd between Perryville and Jackrabbit. I have counted over 300 Swainson's thus far and I haven't finished my route yet. Turkey Vultures mixed in with a few Red tails. At Yuma rd there were about 6 Black Vultures in the Kettle but they broke off and headed south while the Swainson's are North bound. Incredible raptor show and it is amazing how high some of them are in the sky. Again my best days last year were around April 3 and 4. So, the observations are matching up pretty good for numbers and location ie Buckeye as a main migration route.

Melanie (Goodyear, AZ)

Good Birding,

Marcus Roening
Tacoma WA