A few folks stayed around to scan for the suspected Swainson's hawk nest in the area and they were rewarded with some good scope views of the pair adding to an existing nest in a slightly different location. In the next 10 days we expect the hawks to complete their nest work and hopefully start another successful season at Sutter's Landing. Stay tuned for more info on this.
Today I returned to do some scouting and I saw the pair still soaring over the nest tree seen yesterday.
There was some unexpected excitement today as I encountered a group on the river firing an air rifle near where our nature walk yesterday. I reported this to the County Parks hotline and talked to the ranger dispatched quickly who went down to enforce the regulations against such activities. Meanwhile, I biked across the river to get a closer look at the nesting site. I was able to locate the tree and nest but the hawks were not seen while I was there. We'll provide more information on the nesting activities at Sutter's Landing Park through this spring.
Dale 4/15/12