Tim & all,
I can't speak for kites north of Polk Co., but Red-shouldered Hawks have
been documented as nesting in Benton County.
E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area has had adult pairs of Red-shouldered Hawks
present through the spring/summer months with behavior suggestive of
nesting, at least back to 1999, and continuing in recent years.
A couple of years ago there were at least two RSHA nests in Corvallis,
one by a remarkably human-tolerant pair in Sunset/Starker Park whose
nest was observed discretely by many local birders, and another nest
that was monitored by Trent Seager.
Another Red-shouldered pair has probably nested NW of Bald Hill Park for
the past two years, based on territorial behavior. Last May/June I
watched them come screaming in to chase off a pair of Red-tailed Hawks,
high in the air above one of the jogging trails. Sadly, none of the 15
or so joggers & walkers folks who passed by noticed the show.
There are quite a few other places around Benton County and southern
Polk County where I've run into adult RSHAs during the nesting season. A
lot of local birders have stopped mentioning them since it's no longer a
surprise to find one. I'd guesstimate that at least 10 pairs are
nesting, in an average year.
Numbers seem to be more sparse in Linn, Polk, and Marion County, but
there are now regular detections in all three, and there's at least one
nesting record from Ankeny NWR. I'd guess that the species nests in at
least small numbers in all of the mid-Willamette Valley counties.
Good birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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