A pair of dark morph Swainson’s hawks perched on a tree on the Conservancy’s Betts tract. Photo by Margaret and Bud Widdowson.
Already this year, on March 24, 2005, wildlife biologists working for the Conservancy spotted and photographed Swainson’s hawks on the Betts portion of the Conservancy’s BKS preserve. After years of looking for evidence Swainson’s hawks used the new BKS preserve, a pair nested on the site in 2004. Now it appears some 2005 “early arrivals” from the winter migration have visited the preserve.
The Conservancy has continued to work on managing the BKS preserve in such a manner that Swainson’s hawks would find foraging and nesting value there. Last year’s success of a pair nesting on the Betts tract, and successfully nesting at that (producing offspring), was greeted with elation at the Conservancy. So in the spring of 2005, it is great to see some early-arriving Swainson’s hawks scouting out the site, perhaps resting and perhaps “refueling.” This confirms that for two years now, Swainson’s hawk use the preserve.