Borrego Valley Hawkwatch: HAWK ALERT-Major Incoming Swainson's This Evening-March 16, 2013

Saturday, March 16, 2013

HAWK ALERT-Major Incoming Swainson's This Evening-March 16, 2013

Leader:
Pam Albers/Rose Leong
Asssisted by: Laura Webb and Hal Cohen

Migration Today:
Swainson's Hawks-12
Turkey Vultures-1
Red-tailed Hawk-1

Discussion:
A warm day with temps rising to low 90's. A clear sky and light wind (a surprise). Nice close shots of Swainson's in trees. The hawks took off at 8:40A and moved northwest and apparently out of the valley through Coyote Canyon. If you would like to be on our ALERT system, send me your e-mail address. The ALERT will come directly to your inbox quicker than the blog.

Evening Watch: ALERT
Very windy and lots of blowing sand. We retreated to safe areas until at 6:40P a mass of Swainson's Hawks descended into the Date Farm. The first group had numbers exceeding 200. The second group another 100 or so. Hawks continued to drop down for another half hour. Many of the hawks took off and moved to new trees in the same region. With the continued wind they all may move before the night is over. We wouldn't be surprised if our numbers exceeded 400.

Prediction:
The weather forecast is for diminishing wind by morning (Hopefully!). If the wind does not continue through the night the hawks will probably not take off too early. However we will be out regardless to count them. The hawks could take off anywhere from first light to 9A. Let's hope for a calm morning.

Best place to watch the hawks will probably be from Di Giorgio Rd about 1.8 miles north of Palm Canyon Rd. We have noticed that the hawks take off from the Date Farm and proceed northwest. If this happens then a better place to observe them might be north of Big Horn on Di Giorgio Rd.