Just a couple of days after being given the green light to drive and walk without any assistance, I had the duty of being the official counter at the Hamburg Hawkwatch.
It was a very windy and chilly day and I didn't expect to see much. I kept hoping my first of the year (FOY) Broad-winged Hawk would make an appearance. No luck on that guy - BUT miraculously, a young Swainson's Hawk flew over - one year and one week after the first one that was ever recorded in Erie County! I'm so glad I had my camera ready this time.
Swainson's Hawks are western birds; Iowa being at their eastern-most range. They migrate from North American down to Argentina each year, funneling through western Texas and Central America in flocks of hundreds to even thousands. I read they have one of the longest migrations of any American raptor. Why one showed up two years in a row in Western New York is yet another mystery!