[EBB Sightings] Swainson's Hawks / Burrowing Owls (longish)

Hi all:

Remember the flooded field last year on Mountain House
Road, north of Livermore? And the Swainson's Hawks?
They have to be there again this year, right?

I started the afternoon on Altamont Pass Rd. I turned
left on Dyer and .75 miles up the road on the west
slope/hill were 3 burrowing owls.

I backtracked and followed Grant Line out towards the
county line. .85 miles fro m Grant Line and Mountain
House on the south side of the road was 1 Burrowing
Owl.  

I backtracked again, and at 1.25 miles north of the
Grant line and Mountain House intersection, on
Mt.House rd., on the east side, were 9 burrowing Owls
scattered across the hillside. Now, "scattered" sounds
like an act of god, so let's change that to: situated.

Kelso and Mt. House was supposed to be the Swainson's
Hawk bonanza, but that field is ploughed and dry and
hawkless. I drove east on Kelso to the Byron Hwy., and
then NW on the Byron Hwy to Lindeman where I turned
right.  

I'd almost decided to turn back out of this area.
everything was bleached and dry and bare and brown. 
But, I figured, in for a dime in for a dollar and
drove to the end of Lindeman.  Well wasn't that a
swell idea?! At the corner of Lindeman and Herdley, at
the junction of the eastern ends of Alameda and Contra
Costa Co., was a green field or two.  And there were
crows everywhere. and Ravens. And Great Blue Herons.
And Turkey Vultures. Ground-perched Turkey Vultures.
Free-range ground-perched Turkey Vultures. Oh, and
Swainson's Hawks.  The hawks were the least obvious,
as they were in the northern corner of the field and
the grass is high. So you see, Raven, Raven, Crow,
Crow, Great Blue Heron... Hey, what's that white faced
thing? and that brown faced thing? and then there's 15
of them in a row.

My best estimate was/is 59. Something gets them up and
rambling like the early a.m. fly-out at Bentsen-RGV
State Park; what's known at Hawk Hill as a
"jail-break".  Don't know what does it. I was at least
a 1/4 mile away, so I don't think it was me.  They
appeared to be swarming over the Northeast corner of
this property near farm equipment, buildings and
confluence of trees, so it may be a day roost or night
roost or no roost at all.  ?????

but anyway, there were the hawks of 2005, 2006
version.  Half ground-perched and half in the air and
it was well worth the search. One dark adult
sky-danced for me. Roller-coaster soaring up, pulling
in the wings and going into a deep dive. Over and over
again. Very very special. Thrilling. 
I've decided he did it for me. Too late in the season
to do it for a female. I suppose he could have been
doing it for all the young hawks to show them how it's
done. Or, second best guess other than "he did it for
me" is: he did it because it's a thrill.

I back-tracked to Kelso and Burns, west of Mt. House
Rd., and betw. .1 and .3 miles west of the Burns, on
Kelso, were 6 more Burrowing Owls. Variously ground
and fence perched.

happy holiday, good birding,
Bob Power
Oakland, CA