THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
A Condensation of a Recent Annual Report 
Oi the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association 
by TERRENCE M. INGR 
Chairman, Hawk & Owl Protection Commi 
The Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association was formed in 1939 and ; 
covers a wide range of persons interested in this unique concentration 
birds of prey in Pennsylvania during their migrations. (The linois Audu 
Society has been a supporter of the association for a long time. Any 
interested in the work of the association contact the secretary, Peter E 
120 S. La Salle, Chicago). 
The staff at Hawk Mountain consists of Alex Nagy, the curator; } 
Wetzel, assistant curator; Dick Sharadin, assistant to the curator; ] 
Barbara Lake, secretary, and Mrs. Alex Nagy, official hostess. Build: 
consist of Schaumboch, the association office and sanctuary headquart 
the curator’s residence and the common room which is being remod 
for use during inclement weather or small meetings. 
The property itself consists of 2,050 acres including the purchase 
1965 of the River of Rocks and Shale Pit on a main road which has b 
developed into a camp ground. Under consideration is an agreement to 
a further 100-acre tract which flows under the River of Rocks and a y 
high, very steep stream-cut bank covered with hemlocks and giant rhe 
dendrons. It is a lovely area, almost typically Canadian. 
One major problem the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary faced in re 
years has been the spraying for gypsy moth in the Sanctuary by the Pe 
sylvania Department of Agriculture. I would like to quote a few p. 
graphs from this report as written by the president. I believe these pi 
graphs point out the very problem conservationists have in determir 
spray effects and questioning the need for using poisonous sprays anywh 
“In the Special Bulletin which you received in May, I stated, 0 
at least gave the impression, that portions of the Sanctuary wer 
sprayed three times. This apparently was in error, although it 1 
difficult to be sure, because for days over a period of ten days, spray 
ing helicopters were flying over our property. In any event, the Stat 
says that it sprayed only twice—once with Dylox and once witl 
Sevin, both of which are so-called ‘soft’ pesticides and neither 0 
which is supposed to be persistent beyond 24 hours at the most. 
“So far as we were able to determine, the effects of the firs 
spraying with Dylox were relatively negligible. There was somé¢ 
decrease in insect activity, but apparently no effect on the bird popu: 
lation or on the bees feeding on the apple blossoms. But the following 
spraying with Sevin was a totally different story. The pollinating 
bees dropped to the ground, dead almost immediately. Within one 
hour there was a frightening silence—-no bird songs, and no buzz 0! 
insects. Alex points out that we really are not conscious of the con 
stant background noise the.insects make until there is none, This 
silence continued for three or four days and then a bee—doubtless 
from outside the sprayed area—appeared at the apple blossoms, and 
