YES the SWAINSONS HAWK was still present in its usual haunts Thursday evening; last observed around 4: 30 or so.
The bird has been wandering high and far lately almost to becoming a speck in the Southeast sky. But, for some reason, it keeps coming back each time almost to the very perch that it has been frequenting. This despite very enticing NW winds beckoning him/her to more appropriate climes. The local weather forecast calls for rain Friday all day with southerly winds. The rain is likely to continue into Saturday noon or so. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-40s to low 60s Friday. The folks in the Sonoco Convenience store are very friendly. Larry Federman presented them with a prints of 2 nice photos of the bird for them to enjoy and appreciate. It would be a nice gesture for visitors to their very limited parking area to stop in, say Hello, tell them why youre there, and pick up a snack or something. The folks at the Veterinarian clinic (New Baltimore Animal Hospital) are also interested and concerned about the bird. They had noticed it feeding in the grassy patch across Rt 9-W from their facility a few days before I had picked up on it. BTW the Red Carpet is under new management. I spoke with the new owner and brought him up to date about the hawk and potential visitors. Im sure hed appreciate a visit to his lunch counter. (rest rooms available as well). To see the bird, a good strategy would be to pick a spot and stick to it. The hawk moves around in a very limited area and, sooner or later, should be visible from anywhere between the Sunoco station to the Vets clinic or Red Carpet Restaurant entrance road. The bird does not seem to be overly spooky, but weve noticed that when someone approaches maybe to get a closer photo, the bird shifts away to another perch. The hawk remains to be very naïve when it comes to vehicular traffic. I think its genetic code goes as far as watching out for grazing buffaloes. Im very concerned that this poor thing may flush and fly low and into the path of a passing 18-wheeler. Please be considerate of the businesses that rely on their parking access for customers. Also the road (Rt 9-W) is very, very busy. There is a turning lane for traffic (mostly big trucks) to get onto the Thruway, while through traffic often speeds up to beat the traffic light. So drivers may be distracted by their own concerns and may not be expecting a car or van to be parked along the shoulder or worse yet a door opening into their drive lane. This is a serious highway, and special precautions that may not apply on more rural roads need to be thought out here. I dont want to come off sounding preachy, but Ive noticed that when it comes to seeing that bird, some people dont appreciate the risks of dealing with roadway traffic. nuff said. Other than I put a few photos of the bird in flight on my blog page today: http://blog.timesunion.com/birding Also if you get off the Thruway at the Catskill Exit (21) you might want to stop in at the Greene Tourism kiosk right at the end of the exit ramp (immediately to the right at the traffic light) to pick up a free copy of Birdwatching in Greene County. This will give you a few suggestions for places to visit after youve seen the hawk. Rich Guthrie New Baltimore, The Greene County gael...@capital.net -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
