NeoVista Birds and Wildlife: Just in From Argentina: Up Close With a Swainson's Hawk

Several years ago, when I was new to birding, I drove by some fields near my place of work. I noticed a hawk perched in a tree just off the road. It was unlike any Red-tailed Hawk I had ever seen. Minutes later I saw another one just like the first one and then a third one shortly after that. I'd been looking at Red-tailed Hawks for months before seeing those three new hawks. I wondered why I had never seen one before and then suddenly saw three in such a short time on the same day in mid-April. I checked my field guide and realized I had just seen several Swainson's Hawks. I did a little reading and learned that the Swainson's Hawks that were suddenly showing up in Utah were migrating from as far away as Argentina and were looking for breeding territories in the western parts of North America. I was amazed that these hawks had migrated over thousands of miles in preceding weeks.

Well, I've been enjoying the new arrival of Swainson's Hawks over the past couple of weeks here in Utah, especially one I came across the other night on my way home from work. You know how people talk about near-death experiences when they come close to death, walk toward the light, and live to tell about it? I had a near-Swainson's experience. It wasn't a traumatic experience or anything near scary (quite the opposite), but I came across a Swainson's Hawk, walked toward it, and not only lived to tell about but got some nice images to prove I had the experience after practically inspecting its nasal cavities. The sun was setting to my back and on the front of this beautiful bird.

The images below start from the initial distance in my mobile blind (aka Honda Accord) and conclude with me standing right below the hawk on the ground below. I got back into my car and drove away with the bird still looking calmly toward the sunset.

Swainson's Hawk Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

The next couple of images captured the nictitating membrane fully covering the eyes of this beautiful hawk. The nictitating membrane (third eyelid) is translucent and allows some birds, reptiles and other animals to moisten and protect their eyes while maintaining their vision. The membrane moves from the inside corner of the eye, all the way to the outside corner and back.

Swainson's Hawk Showing Nictitating Membrane Over Eyes Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Swainson's Hawk Pleasant Grove, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

I'll go ahead and throw in a few of the first images I ever captured of Swainson's Hawks when I started birding and doing digital photography several years ago.

This is the first photo I ever took of a Swainson's Hawk. I was new to birding and new to photography. I probably had the "auto" feature set to capture this image. It isn't great quality and the wings got clipped, but it is an image with significance to me personally.