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3.2 Raptor Nests <br />Ground surveys located a total of 68 possible raptor nests within the Collom wildlife study area. <br />It was believed that ground surveys provided a relatively comprehensive survey of most <br />potential nesting habitat except for the aspen stands in the southern one-third of the study area. <br />The fact that aspen trees were leafed out during the August 2005 and early June 2006 survey <br />periods and vehicle access into the higher elevation aspen areas, prior to leaf-out, was <br />prohibited by lingering snow drifts during the April 2006 survey, precluded adequate nest survey <br />coverage of potential tree nest sites in aspen stands. <br />A listing of all nests located with their UTM coordinates and activity status is provided in Table 2. <br />Table 3 provides a summary of nests by species and activity status. Nest locations within the <br />study area are plotted on Figures 2A and 2B. Nest identification numbers on Figures 2A and 2B <br />correspond to the nest identification numbers in Table 2. As indicated on Figure 2, the majority <br />of nest sites were located in rock outcrop areas and trees along the major drainages within the <br />study area. Tree nest sites within the drainage bottoms were associated primarily with <br />boxelders (Acer negundo). A few tree nests were also found in cottonwood trees. <br />Golden eagle and long-eared owl were the most prolific breeders in the study area with four <br />occupied nests for each species. The remaining active nest sites were found for one each of <br />great horned owl, Cooper's hawk, red-tailed hawk, and, possibly, turkey vulture. Based on nest <br />configuration and placement, it was assumed that prairie falcon and Swainson's hawk had also <br />historically nested within the study area. <br />• <br />7