The Cooperative Swainson’s Hawk

When I returned home after work today, I did my rounds around the place to see if there were any birds about that I might try to photograph with the spotting scope. I thought there was a bird on one of the walnut trees left remaining south of the house after the lamentable road-widening project. I ran inside and got my binoculars. Yes, it’s a Swainson’s hawk! I ran back and got the digicam and spotting scope, already set up for digiscoping, and took a few pictures.

I then realized the hawk was staying put for a bit, and was perfectly positioned to bring out the Dob. I have a 7” Dobsonian reflecting telescope that is great for visual astronomy, and has much better optics than any spotting scope, but far, far too unwieldly to be useful for birding. Unless one is very lucky that is, and I was! I ran to the house, got and set up the Dob, and took a series of photos: the one at left shows him calling.

Swainson’s hawks are threatened in California, largely due to the loss, especially in the Central Valley, of trees suitable for nesting. Still, the Davis area is a good place to see these birds after they return from migration to Central and South America (especially western Mexico and Argentina) early in spring. These birds like to forage in farmlands and nest in riparian trees, and there is enough of this habitat combination in Yolo and eastern Solano county so that a reasonable breeding population still remains here.

In other birding news, in my lunchtime browse through through the bookstore I discovered that David Sibley has written yet another pair of bird books. The Sibley Guide to Birds, published three years ago, is now considered the standard advanced bird identification guide, but it is a bit of a tome to carry about. The books by Sibley that were just published are a pair of field guides to the birds of western and eastern North America — that is, they actually fit in one’s pocket! Our bookshelves are groaning already at the thought…