Last year I found a Swainson Hawk nest after the leaves had fallen from the trees and this spring I started watching the nest to see if it might be reused and was rewarded when I found mom sitting on the nest in June. I kept going back to the nest until one day I saw a small white head. The first photo I got was on July 5. There were 3 chicks and as best as I could tell they were about 4 or 5 days old. I returned to the nest as often as I could and tried to keep a photo record of the chicks as they grew. In order to get the photos I took along a 14 foot extension ladder and set it against a tree about fifty feet away from the nest. Now I would like you to try and visualize me running across a field with and extension ladder in my arms and my camera and Sig 500/4.5 strung from my shoulder. I would lean the ladder against a neighbouring tree and then climb up to the top rung of the ladder, wrap one arm around the tree and shoot handheld while I swayed in the breeze. Fortunately no one ever saw me☺ Anyway, here are some of the photos I was able to get as the chicks grew. Cross posted to 300+ lens club
July 5 first Photo
July 7 There were three chicks when I started watching the nest
July 9 I spent very little time each visit one or both adults were always present and quite concerned that I was there. I never spent more than 5 minutes during a visit as I was concerned I might force the adults off the nest completely.
Mom July 11
Chicks on July 11 you can see the feathers beginning to emerge.
Chicks July 17 – I was unable to get to the nest for 6 days and the change was amazing. I also found that there were only 2 chicks instead of three. Perhaps an owl picked off a chick but I also understand that the Swainson’s chicks are known to periodically eat each other. I had to wonder if Mom returned to the nest only to be told by Ralph that while she was away Frank ate Wilbur. There was a huge change in the chicks over the six days.
Adults rather disgusted with me.
By July 20 the chicks are really starting to look like hawks
July 22 – If you look at the chick’s claw’s you can see that it is clutching what appears to be a thirteen lined ground squirrel
July 25 – When I arrived at the nest the adults would circle and screech at me and typically the chicks would crouch down and remain completely motionless
July 27 Again the crouch
Mom July 27 – she still hasn’t gotten used to me
July 29 The chicks are starting to get a bit more adventurous – they were moving along the branches at the nest.
Mom and Dad – I happened to catch both adults in the same shot
July 30 Venturing out a bit further – their feathers are almost completely developed
July 31 – this was the last time I saw the chicks at the nest. I returned on July 2 and only one chick was near the nest and I spooked him out of a tree before a saw him.
Aug 5 – I found the two chicks on a nearby hay bale early in the morning
Aug 5 The one chick flew off leaving this guy to shake out the morning cobwebs.
Aug 6 My last shot – I have been back a couple of times since but I guess they are off chasing grasshoppers.
Thanks for looking