I went for a quick photo drive after work Thursday and only found one photo worthy subject. It however was a very handsome juvenile Swainson’s Hawk. These young ones have some very cool coloring and just have an extraordinary look to them. It will be growing fast as it gets ready for its long migration to Argentina for the winter.

My weekend camping trip didn’t really bring much extraordinary in the way of wildlife. That’s okay as it was a great one to just disconnect and spend some time with my family.

This capture is from last weekend in Adams County, Colorado. The beautiful lady was hanging out near her nest watching traffic roll by but being pestered by a number of smaller birds. She finally took flight giving me an absolutely beautiful flyby.

I haven’t really gotten my usual fill of pictures of these summertime residents of Colorado. The last couple of weekends though gave me a few opportunities, including some captures of this beautiful female. She was perched on a fence post in rural Morgan County and tolerated me – but only briefly. I managed a few quick captures as she took flight.

When I first spotted this raptor yesterday in Morgan County, Colorado, I wasn’t entirely sure what it was. Certainly it was the size of a hawk but the light coloring threw me off a bit. I have seen juvenile Swainson’s Hawks before, but never one of the light morph variety like this one. It was kind of fun to find something a bit different. He / she was definitely beautiful.

Taken last weekend as the Centennial State was getting pounded by a significant storm. This poor hawk was undoubtedly wishing it had stayed in Argentina for a couple more weeks. It was perched in a tree northeast of Denver and had ice on its head, chest and tail feathers. No doubt it wasn’t much fun for the creature.

Having just arrived from Argentina, this gorgeous raptor was likely a bit tired. Okay, it actually arrived a week or two ago but that is a long flight and you sure would think it would take a while to recover. 😉

On my quick drive yesterday I came across this Swainson’s on a pole and like many of its species, was completely tolerant of me. In fact, it seemed pretty bemused with and even a little bit bored by my interest in it, largely ignoring me. Here it stretches and gives me a very cool pose. Take note of those talons. Very impressive!

Swainson’s Hawks have one of the longest known migrations of any raptor. After wintering in Argentina, they spend their summers on the Great Plains where they mate before heading south again.

On Friday I saw my first Swainson’s of the season and she was not a very pleasant one. In fact, she was dive-bombing a Great Horned Owl nest which of course made the female owl very upset as her little ones had just hatched. Unfortunately I failed to capture the hawk and the nest in the same frame of any of my pictures. 🙁

In this series though, you can see the hawk swoop in and take a swipe at the nest below.  Scroll down to view the entire sequence.

Taken in Thornton, Colorado.

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I was recently taking pictures of a gorgeous juvenile Swainson’s Hawk that was taking advantage of some strong winds.  It was gliding effortlessly with no need to flap its wings thanks to the breeze.  As I was clicking the shutter I notice something out of the corner of my eye – the young one’s sibling!

It would appear there was a bit of a sibling rivalry going on for mine and my camera’s attention with the newcomer seemingly wanting to have its picture taken as well.  😉

These young hawks are among my favorite #raptors. Swainson’s are normally quite tolerant of people and the juveniles have some of the most gorgeous plumage of any bird. The nearby family had been a bit scarce this year and when I have seen them this summer, I didn’t have time to stop. Today that finally changed and I stopped for a visit. One of the two siblings gave me a very nice show. Taken in Thornton, Colorado.