Hawks victims of urban development
Ever since they moved to Legacy Ridge, Ali and Mark Huitt enjoyed watching a pair of Swainson’s hawks — and their progeny — that made their home in a stand of neglected old trees at the entrance to their new neighbourhood.
The couple moved to a home on Thyrza Burkitt Link a couple of years ago and say a pair of hawks appeared in the area each year, once winter was over.
“The hawks returned every spring after migration to the same nest, where they successfully reared a chick every year,” said Ali, who questioned why developers have cut the trees down, making it impossible for the hawks to return next spring.
“These birds gave all the residents of Legacy Ridge a lot of joy. They were an awesome site to see when you’d enter the neighbourhood. The male was the hunter and he’d sit on the top of the light standards.
“There’s long grass at the entrance and every time they’d come and cut it, he’d be right there to catch the mice. It was great to watch.”
Alberta Fish and Wildlife’s website notes Swainson’s hawks are a fairly common sight on the Prairies, identified by their dark breast and contrasting light throat and abdomen. Most of western North America is included in the breeding range, but they spend their winters in South America, as far south as Argentina.
Legacy Ridge developer Melcor sold a parcel of land on the east side of the entrance road, Mildred Dobbs Blvd., to Galko Homes Ltd., and the builder has begun excavation to prepare for a multi-family development there.
“We heard there were hawks in the neighbourhood,” said Melcor’s Neil Johnson, senior regional manager.
“Those trees were left over from an old city tree nursery there that the city used from the 1960s right up until the ’80s.”
Bruce Galts, second vice-president of Galko Homes Ltd., confirmed the company pondered the fate of the hawks and went to the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre for advice before removing the trees.
“There wasn’t an option to keep the trees,” he explained. “They were in the way, and we’re putting a higher density project in there, more affordable housing, as that’s the concern these days. There just isn’t enough land there to put the units in and keep the trees.
“So certainly we’re aware of that concern and would have loved to do it differently, but it just doesn’t work with that kind of development. We did talk to the Birds of Prey folks and they said you shouldn’t move them during the nesting times, but they also assured us that at this time of year they leave their nest for good and they may or may not return. It could be, and I don’t know this for sure, but it could be that the birds they see come back every year are not the same pair.”
Johnson said not everyone enjoys the presence of hawks, since they eat songbirds as well as mice. But Huitt said that’s not a problem for her and her husband.
“We don’t have any songbirds, because we don’t have any trees yet,” she said. “But I am glad to know they considered the birds before they took down the trees and that they waited for the nest to be empty.”
Galts said the engineering firm Galko hired for the project’s design also hired a landscaping company to remove the trees.
“They make sure that not just the birds are gone and the nest is vacant, but also look for other wildlife that may be there, like squirrels or snakes, and just make sure that they’re not doing something they don’t want to do and uproot them,” he said.
Fish and Wildlife’s site says open areas, foothill and parkland zones fit the lifestyle of the Swainson’s hawk. Nests are built in bushes or trees and usually three to five eggs are laid. The birds are considered to be relatively late nesters, with the young birds often staying in the nest until the end of July.
(source: lethbridgeherald.com)