Swainson's Hawk Watch: July 2010

Welcome to the Swainson's Hawk Watch

May 15, 2015 - A pair of Swainson's Hawks have been mating and building a new nest in a different neighborhood tree. I will try to start adding a few new 2015 photos of this pair as the summer progresses. (Scroll down on this page to see the 2015 blog posts in chronological order.)

July 3, 2015 - Sadly, the 3 chicks have fallen out of the nest and perished. This blog chronicles activities around the nest until this tragic event, with the July 3 post below the first you will read.

Note! These and additional photos (total = 154) are viewable in this Swainson's Hawks blog 2015 Picasa Web album.

Archive, May 2014 two Swainson's Hawks have been mating in a tree about a block from the old 2010 -2011 nest site. I have not seen them in a nest yet but have seen them mate three times in the same tree over a two day period.

Whenever possible I will try to post photos on this blog again this year, especially if we can identify the nest site where we can see the chicks growing and fledgling. Note! See the first photos below on the May 5, 2014 blog post below.

Archive 2010 & 2011.

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. Here is a link to 56 Red-tailed hawk photographs from 2011 I uploaded to my Picasa Web Album.

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, July 31, 2010

Young Hawks Continue Learning how to Hunt In the Hay Field

On Friday Morning, July 30, the light was better and both young hawks were out learning how to hunt in the hay field. However, they were way across the field from my camera position. I have uploaded a number of these images to the photo album that now has 517 individual images.

I hope the hawks will continue to hunt in the field for a few days allowing me to obtain better close up photos (and possibly videos) of their hunting behaviors. I would also like to see all 4 hawks, both parents and young soaring in the sky over the field if possible. Stay tuned.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Young Hawks are Learning How to Hunt In Hay Field

On Thursday evening July 29, just before sunset I finally saw the young hawks learning how to hunt in the newly mown hay field. They were at some distance from my camera and the light was fading, but I was able to capture a few images. As I tried to walk closer in the hayfield hundreds of small grasshoppers would jump away from my feet. I assume this is the primary prey they were after. The hawks would walk along the ground with heads down and sometimes fly a little to another place. They also seemed to like to perch on top of a hay bale where they could look at for anything moving.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Close Up Views of Young Hawks Feeding

On Tuesday, July 27, about mid morning, as I arrived near the hawk nest and viewing tree, suddenly I saw both parent hawks flying and diving and the young hawks flying from tree to tree. Then the action stopped and I walked around looking up in the trees to see where they might have landed. Finally I saw both young hawks on top of a power pole where I was able to get a close up view. One of the hawks was feeding and the other was watching, obviously wanting to get some of the meal. Finally this second hawk jumped over to try to grab some food, but the first hawk spread its wings and covered the food to prevent this takeover and continued to finish the meal. (Note! I have more similar close up photos of the young hawks on this pole and the adults flying and landing in the nearby view tree. I will upload these to the photo album as time permits.)

Click on the image for a larger view!

Two Hawk Chicks Jostle for position in Pine Tree

On Monday July 26 in the evening about 9:PM it was cloudy and dark, but I was able to capture a few interesting photos. One young hawk was in the nest and the other was on top of the pine tree. Suddenly the one in the nest flew to the top of the pine tree too. There is not a lot of room and the two seem to be pushing each other around trying to get the best footing. Notice the hawk on the left in the bottom image seems to be on its back with its wings open,

Click on the image for a larger view!

Both Adult Hawks Perched in Tree Without Young

On Sunday, July 25, about noon both adult hawks were perched in the favorite tree that has a lot of bare limbs at the top, providing a great view. I have not seen this pair perching together for this long in the past. The young hawks were not visible. However, both adults would screech indicating that the young hawks were nearby somewhere. In the evening about sunset the young hawks were in the same tree, but the adults were not visible. (Note the young hawk on the left has its wings partly spread because it was a hot day.) I believe the adults are trying to get the young hawks to fly as often as possible. Neighbors say they are seeing hawks flying quite a bit during the day.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Female Hawk Teases Young Hawk with Food To Get Them to Fly

On Saturday morning, July 24, I saw the female hawk fly around with a rodent clearly visible in her talons. She would land in the nearby tree where one of the young hawks was perched. The young hawk would get excited and try to hop from branch to branch to get closer to to the food. Suddenly she would take off with the prey and fly around again and land again. Soon both young hawks were in the tree trying to get closer to the food. But she would just fly off again. It appeared that she was trying to entice the young hawks to fly. I never did see her give the food to either of them. Meanwhile, the male hawk came flying by with visible prey in its talons. One young hawk took off after him. There was a lot activity with the hawks today and I have uploaded about 4 dozen new images similar to the ones below to the photo album. This is a link to the Swainson's Hawk Album that now has 461 images.

The farmer has been cutting the hay field about 5 blocks away. As he mows, rakes and bales the hay over the next week or so, mice and other rodents are easier for the hawks to see and catch. Possibly the adult hawks are trying to entice the young hawks to fly over to the hay field to learn how to hunt for their own food. I will try to capture photos of this process if I can.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Hawks at Sunset and Moon over Hayfield

On Friday evening July 23, at sunset I saw one young hawk fly from the nest to a nearby tree where the female hawk was perching. As the sun went down she started flying toward the hayfield and the young hawk followed her. I went over to the hayfield about 5 blocks away and noticed that the farmer is cutting the hay already for the second time this season. This means that the whole hawk family may start hunting in the field in the next few days. I did not see the hawks because it was getting dark, but I shot one photo of the almost full moon over the field.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Female Brings Mouse to Nest and Young Hawk Comes to Eat

On Friday Morning, July 23, I saw the female hawk bring a mouse back to the nest. One of the young hawks immediately appeared and flew to the nest to vigorously eat the fresh meal. I am also uploading a bunch of new images to the photo album that now numbers 406 individual hawk photos.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Two Hawk Chicks Together - Male Brings Food to Nest and Chicks Fly to Eat

Thursday July 22, about 9 PM // After both young hawks have started flying I have not seem them together away from the nest. This evening they were both perched in the favorite tree that does no have leaves on top, about 100 yards from the nest tree. Soon the Male hawk flew by with some food in its talons and took it to the nest. Almost immediately both your hawks flew to the nest to begin feeding, Afterwards they both flew out of the nest again.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Young Hawks are Flying More

On Thursday Morning, July 22, I was able to see the young hawks fly from tree to tree, often still landing awkwardly. I am posting additional photos from this morning in the Photo album that now has 370 individual hawk related images starting when the Swainsons Hawk adults first started taking over the nest about mid April.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Friday, July 23, 2010

In the morning of Wednesday July 21, one young hawk was practicing flying from tree to tree. For a few minutes it would actually start to soar around in circles before landing, I was able to get a photo of it landing in the pine tree with the female hawk and it stayed there with her for several minutes before flying off again.

Click on the image for a larger view!

Moon behind Hawk and Nest

On Tuesday afternoon, July 20, on a hot day the female Hawk and one of the Young Hawks were in the nest when I passed by about 3:30 PM. In the evening, about 9 PM the moon was in the sky visible behind the nest from the right photo location. I hoped I could get a photo of one of the hawks standing in the nest with the moon behind, but the hawks were out somewhere else. I finally did find one, probably the female, in a favorite nearby leafless tree and was able to get in a position to have the hawk silouetted against the moon.

Click on the image for a larger view!