I live in Clay, NY. I just got home about 23 minutes ago from grocery shopping and as I was putting my groceries away i looked through my kitchen window at these 2 deciduous trees that are about 1 1/12 block over from my street and usually host a variety of raptors in the winter and I saw a raptor in one of them. I ran and grabbed my tripod and scope and was pinching myself shortly after. I grabbed my Sibley field guide and had about 6 minutes to ID the bird. After the bird took off I went online to view images to be certain I was right ...It was a juvenile Swainson's Hawk. The farily white forehead, almost falcon like shape, but pure buteo in flight. fairly white throat, almost like it had dark malars. This would be the second Swainson's hawk I had the privilege to see this year.
I did not get a chance to grab my camera. but here is a link to EXACTLY what my bird looked like: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=804&tbm=isch&tbnid=mhMfBmMYu9Nc3M:&imgrefurl=http://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/tag/red-rock-lakes/&docid=t7HFGe0rj9cRVM&imgurl=http://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/swainsons-hawk-mia-mcpherson-juvenile-9594.jpg&w=624&h=720&ei=HtRMUICZNYTU0gHB7ICIDA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=522&sig=107774459912592669649&page=2&tbnh=162&tbnw=139&start=28&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:28,i:224&tx=60&ty=104 last year those two deciduous trees gave me good looks at a peregrine, merlin, sharpies, and coops. But to see a Sawinson's hawk..oh boy. don't forget to look up, Joe -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
