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Swainson's hawks prefer nesting sites that provide sweeping views of nearby foraging grounds consisting of grasslands, irrigated pasture, hay, and wheat crops. Most Swainson's hawks are migratory, wintering in Mexico and breeding in California and elsewhere in the western United States. This raptor generally arrives in the Central Valley in mid-March, and begins courtship and nest construction immediately upon arrival at the breeding sites. The young fledge in early July, and most Swainson's hawks leave their breeding territories by late August. The CNDDB (2021) contains several records of nesting Swainson's hawk in the greater project vicinity with a few records within a mile of the site. The nearest record is within a cluster of trees just southwest of the site, west of Pock Lane. This record mentions two large stick nests observed in a tree cluster and successful fledgling in 2007. Due to Swainson's hawks' high nest site affinity, it is likely Swainson's hawks have returned to this nesting territory in recent years. There are a few potential nest trees associated with the residence in the northwest part of the site and the disked grassland field in the body of the site provides foraging habitat for Swainson's hawk. All of the trees in the site and trees viewable from the site were scanned with binoculars for raptor stick nests, but several of the trees had dense tree canopies making them difficult to comprehensively inspect. No Swainson's hawks were observed perching in trees or flying over the site during the field surveys, which were conducted toward the end of the nesting season of this species. There are several potential nest trees within residences and parcels in close proximity to the site and annual cropland and grasslands in the region provide suitable foraging habitat for this species. Swainson's hawks could potentially utilize trees in or near the site for nesting in future years. The project will participate in the San Joaquin County Multi -Species Habitat Conservation and Open Space Plan (HCP) (SJCOG, 2000). The HCP involves payment of fees and compliance with standard Incidental Take Minimization 2706 Pock Lane: Biology 20 November 23, 2021