RE: [Maine-birds] Re: notes on viewing the Swainson's Hawk

And to hop on the chain. I stayed with it a bit longer. Kyle and I had diverted to check a flock of Horned Larks in the cemetery before he left and then I walked back to my truck. The hawk was foraging nearer the airport and there were some people out on the tarmac taking pictures. I decided to see if there was a decent view from there.  The gentleman who works at the airport stated that there were a few areas inside the fence we could go as long as we checked in with him first and exercised extreme caution so their presence was not surprising. When I got to the airport office the bird had taken off and returned down to the northwest corner of the airport. When I started walking the fence line back towards the large rock in that area, there was a freshly killed Ruffed Grouse along the fence line. It did not look like a car strike, more like a bird kill as there were many feathers scattered near the bird but not between the road and the spot. This had not been there earlier in the day when we had originally walked the fence. I have no idea what else would have killed the bird and left it so was wondering if it may have been a territorial kill by the hawk. More than happy to discuss the notion offline.

I left the bird about 5:15 and it was still foraging in the northwest corner.

 

Cheers and thanks for the reports on this stunning bird.

 

Rob O'Connell

 

 

From: maine-birds@googlegroups.com [mailto:maine-birds@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kyle Lima
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2016 9:25 PM
To: Maine birds <maine-birds@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Maine-birds] Re: notes on viewing the Swainson's Hawk

 

Hello all,

 

Just wanted to add to what Doug said, and throw out an update on the bird. When I arrived just before 2:00PM the bird was perched on the fence along the Medway Road, so it had returned by that time. The fellows with the model planes were flying them throughout most of the 2.5 hours I spent there, and the bird continued to forage seeming to not mind their presence too much. It was still there when I left chasing grasshoppers inside the fence closer to the airport offices at 4:15PM.

 

Hopefully it sticks around!

-Kyle Lima

On Friday, September 30, 2016 at 8:49:46 PM UTC-4, Doug Hitchcox wrote:

Hey everyone:

 

Given the lack of updates I thought I'd post some tips from my (and other's) experiences looking for the Swainson's Hawk in Millinocket today:

 

Location:

In the nearly 5 hours we spent looking for/watching the hawk, it never left the northwest region of the Millinocket Municipal Airport. We first found the bird around 7:30AM roosting in the trees (I think a hemlock) on the north side of a grassy field between the airport and the 'Saint Martin of Tours Cemetery' - the bird apparently was last seen on the 29th in this same grove so it likely roosted there. The bird flew towards the airport around 8:30AM and then would perch on the fence between foraging attempts on the ground. The bird covered more ground walking/running after grasshoppers than it did flying around. I just created an eBird hotspot for the Millinocket Municipal Airport so this should help with directions and consolidating reports: http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L4958878

 

People:

Around 2:00PM today there was a post on the MAINE Birds Facebook Group that the hawk was seen flying out of the area but it did return about 10 minutes after being "a speck in the thermals". Apparently the bird flew off when some people arrived to fly their model planes. I can't imagine there are that many model plane enthusiasts in Millinocket but beware that their presence may be increased at the airport over the weekend (just as the number of birders will be too). Also be conscious of the fact that this bird seems to be very approachable. It was an amazing viewing experience (often through the fence) but there were a few people today (including drive-by locals with camera phones) that seemed to get too close to the bird. Use your best judgement and give the bird space to forage.

 

Here is a link to our checklist with more notes and photos: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31826769 I recommend watching the video that Louis digiscoped showing the bird's foraging behavior of running on the ground and snatching grasshoppers. 

 

Good luck to anyone who makes the trip for this bird!

 

 

Doug Hitchcox

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