Photo by BarrytheBirder
I have been writing about and publishing photos of Swainson's Hawks in this space since I first noticed them in the spring of 2024 in the Town of Aurora, about 35 kilometres north of Toronto, Ontario. Swainson's Hawks are widespread in North America, particularly in the U.S. midwest, and notably in Kansas.
They have been moving east into southern Ontario in recent years and I have taken many photos of them and published them in this blog space.
They seemed to have replaced the Red-tail Hawks in this part of the town of Aurora where I live. My oldest daughter, Allison, lives just a couple of blocks from me in Aurora, and recently had an close-up encounter with one of these impressive raptors in her own backyard.
She was in her backyard, beside her swimming pool when she heard a chorus of birds squawking in the next-door neighbour's back yard. She stretched up and looked over her backyard fence and came face-to-face (a mere 5' away) with a big Swainson's Hawk that was harassing a gang of American Robins which were fiercely protesting the hawk's presence near their fledgling young Robins.
Allison had never seen a Swainson's Hawk before and she recalls thinking it was huge and very impressive looking (Swainson's are 21" long with a wingspan of 52"!). The hawk was startled by her presence as much as she was by the hawk's appearance. The hawk quickly assessed the encounter and took off. The young Robins were safe but one can't help but wonder how typical this kind of encounter and the potential results happen probably every day at this time of year.
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