Observers: Tom & Jo Heindel
Email: tjheindelataoldotcom
Remote Name: 207.200.116.130
Date: 02/06/2006
Time: 05:24 PM -0500
The earliest records of Swainson’s Hawk in Inyo County are 22 March and 27 March and in the eastern Kern desert 25 March. These three records are early outliers occurring about three weeks before the expected migrants arrive. These dates coincide with early outliers in Nevada. While there are a few winter records for California, none are from the Great Basin. During the non-breeding season, their food supply, primarily grasshoppers, is not available in this area. Considering the unprecedented nature of this sighting and the difficulty in identifying sub-adult hawks in the genus Buteo, photographic evidence would be necessary to support this report. Hopefully others will be able to re-find and photograph this bird.