Today, at about 4:15 p.m. I was watching a group of 23 Turkey Vultures that were circling quite low in the strong winds, when an odd-looking hawk suddenly joined them. Quickly it was easy to see that it was a first year light morph Swainson`s Hawk, with pointed wing tips, dihedral, and dark flight feathers! I had never seen a Swainson`s in Ontario before, but have seen hundreds of them in the prairies of Canada in the past. They are a casual species in southern Ontario, and are usually seen (if at all), at one of the many autumn hawk watch sites along Lake Erie.
Location: north end of Belmont Lake, south-west of Cordova Mines, township of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen
Observer: Tim Dyson
