Swainson's Hawk Watch: Young Hawk Returns to Favorite Perching Tree

Welcome to the Swainson's Hawk Watch

In April of 2010, a pair of wild Swainson's Hawks decided to nest in our neighborhood in Boise, Idaho. This "Hawk Watch" will attempt to record words and photographs describing the Hawks behaviors, including the hatching & fledgling of chicks over the spring and summer. Many others who live in the neighborhood also watched the daily activities of the hawks and used this blog to keep up on my own observations and photographs.

Note! May 6, 2011 Two Red-Tailed Hawks have settled on the old nest and appear to be laying on eggs now. See blog posts below.

Note! On March 12, 2011 two neighbors reported seeing a single hawk flying around and landing on the nest. Hopefully they will nest here again or nearby and we can continue the blog through 2011.

Note! Please Try to "Follow" the Blog and check in often. I am trying to update this site and the photo album at least once or twice a week. This page scrolls down to the blog entries below this introduction. The first blog entry you will see is the latest one. Scrolling the page down will reveal earlier posts in descending chronological order. And/or you can use the Blog Archive on the right side of the screen to see entries for May, through October 2010 and newer ones for 2011.

Please feel free to share this Blog with your family and friends. The URL you can email to them is:

http://swainsonshawkwatch.blogspot.com

Note ! I am posting "all" of the hawk images to an album in my Picasa Web account. Below is the web URL for that album. You can click on that hot link and/or also click on the Hawk lifting off branch photo to go to that album. As of October 3, there are 600 individual images in the album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gogrimm/SwainsonSHawksNesting#

Note! When looking at a single photo in the album use the "full screen" icon for a larger, more impressive size!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Young Hawk Returns to Favorite Perching Tree

This afternoon it was hot, in the high 90's, but a cloud front moved in about 5: PM. I decided to visit the hawk nest area and was surprised to see one of the young hawks perching in the favorite tree without leaves on top. It had its wings spread a little, probably to dissipate the heat. I was able to take photos showing the hawks chest and some small white spots that look like chick feathers that have not yet come out. Another shot from the back shows the hawk with its wings slightly spread. As I was leaving I could hear the hawk crying out and moving around on the branch. I was able to get a couple of photos of it preparing to jump and in the sky and soaring away into the distance toward the hay field. I went past the field but could not see this one or any of the other hawks.