I figured it was a matter of days before I spotted my first Swainson’s hawk and sure enough, I did this past weekend. This handsome one was staking out a pretty common spot for them at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
These guys have one of the longest migrations of any animal, coming all the way from Argentina to the western United States for mating season. In the summer here in Colorado, it almost seems like their numbers are greater than the more common, year-round resident red tail hawk.
I’m sure I will get many more pictures of them this summer, hopefully ones that are more active than this one. I reckon it was resting after a 6,000 mile commute.