I first heard, then saw, three Swainson’s hawks flying over my house Easter Sunday afternoon. I was lazing on the patio with my crossword puzzle when I heard the cries of hawks. I ran in to get my camera and of course by the time I got outside and focused on them, they were no long directly over me but had moved on. Two of them stayed in my view for a few minutes but were soaring much higher than when I first saw them; then they were gone. I couldn’t at first identify them until I processed my under-exposed shots and cropped them. Two of the photos were in fairly decent focus and when I was able to compare the markings with my Sibley’s Guide to Birds, I could see these were Swainson’s hawks, a raptor I have never knowingly seen before today. These two shots are of the same bird.
