Swainson's Hawk @ Pt. Mouillee - 11 Apr 2026

This afternoon Andrew Simon found a 1st-year Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) on Roberts Road just north of Rheaume Rd. at Pt. Mouillee SGA in Monroe Co. The bird was seen flying over the road and the adjacent Rockwood Landfill. 

I arrived just after 2 pm and caught up with Andrew and Linda Ar; the bird was seen a few minutes prior to my arrival so it was still around. I parked by the service gate and pulloff on the west side of Roberts Road (just south of the main entrance to the landfill) and walked south along Roberts Road toward Rheaume Road. 

Several cars were parked about 100 yds down the road so I walked toward them hoping for a sighting update. Don Sherwood was among the group and was setting up his scope. Sure enough the Swainson's Hawk was perched on a power pole at the base of the landfill and visible through the trees. Try as I might I could not focus on the hawk because of the branches, and it took off south along the berm and disappeared over the top and to the west. But Don had gotten the scope on it and was able to confirm ID! I decided to walk back to the car and drive around Rheaume Rd to see if I could catch up with it. 

As I arrived at the car a number of people pulled up and thought that they'd seen it flying low over the landfill. A pair of American Kestrels were hunting along the base of the landfill and we may have mistaken them for the Swainson's. Then, a pair of Bald Eagles appeared overhead and flew into view; again, distractions. 

The Swainson's Hawk was then relocated atop one of the power poles along the north side of the landfill, so after a few LONG-DISTANCE fuzzy photos w/ the Sony a1 + 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens + 1.4TC (EFL~840mm) in APS-C crop mode (EFL~1270mm) I jumped in the car and drove back north to the entrance at Roberts Rd and headed south along US-Turnpike to see if the Swainson's Hawk could be seen under better light conditions.

I was able to find the power poles and pulled over on the roadside to scan the tops to see if the Swainson's Hawk was still present. Just as I got the binoculars on it the Swainson's (and a Red-tailed Hawk) took to the air and began circling. This gave enough time to grab the camera and get some photos of it circling once before streaming south over the landfills and disappearing, again.

Luckily, I was able to get a few keepers that show the dark, mottled belly and underwing pattern, dark-tipped primaries and thin-striped undertail. According to Cornell's Bird of the World this bird appears to be a 1-year old Intermediate morph (possibly even a Dark-morph) based on the extent of dark feathering on the belly, underwing coverts and wrists. "Wings are long and moderately pointed (wing morphology p8 > p7 > p6 > p5 > p9 > p4 ~ p10 > p3 and with p8-p10 notched and p7-p9 emarginated); tail is squared."

I caught up w/ Don, who had just parked, and we headed to Rheaume Rd where Don spotted the hawk hovering low over the top of the landfill (south end). I managed a few photos of it kiting. Note the "square" tail transformed into a large wedge for balance.

When it banked you could see the diagnostic "long, pointy wings" and large tail that we hawkwatchers look for during fall migration (Detroit River Hawk Watch historically sees <1 / season during September when the Swainson's Hawks are moving south with the Broad-winged Hawk migration). 

The bird appeared to then disappear to the east, so once again I hopped into the car and drove back around Rheaume to Roberts Rd. and drove north hoping to see it. It was seen briefly by folks camping out near the north end of the landfill and I caught a glimpse of it moving back south along the base of the landfill.

Sure enough, it landed on the same pole where Don originally saw it. This time I was able to find a gap in the trees to get some photos. The bird was backlit by the overhead Sun but overexposing 2-stops helped reveal the heavily-marked belly and flanks and chocolate collar. Shout-out to Arnie Buehler for spotting it just as I arrived. 

A thin dark eye-line is also visible. 

As it was now 4 pm I needed to get home so I drove back around Rheaume Rd to US-Turnpike but could not see it. I decided to call it and continue on home. 

The distribution map for Swainson's Hawk is shown below. Not many of these birds pass through the Great Lakes Region 

A check of eBird for the past 10 years show a few records east of the Mississippi but not many for Michigan.

Shout-out to Andrew for a great find! A Michigan lifer for me!

Pte. Mouillee SGA (permit required Sep 1-Dec 31), Monroe, Michigan, US
Apr 11, 2026 2:00 PM - 4:10 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Roberts Road between US-Turnpike and Rheaume Rd. Several loops chasing a Swainson's Hawk. Reported by Andrew Simon and seen by many.
5 species

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  6     2 adults and 4 juveniles. 2 at north end of Roberts Rd and 4 over quarry off Rheaume Rd.
Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)  1     Found by Andrew Simon shortly after lunch, I and a number of other birds were able to get brief / distant looks at the hawk. I was able to get photos showing large buteo with heavily marked chest/belly. Long, pointy wings in flight w/ large, squared tail. Dark eye-line with light supercillium. Flight photos: I was able to get a few keepers that show the dark, mottled belly and underwing pattern, dark-tipped primaries and thin-striped undertail. According to Cornell's Bird of the World this bird appears to be a 1-year old Intermediate morph (possibly even a Dark-morph) based on the extent of dark feathering on the belly, underwing coverts and wrists. "Wings are long and moderately pointed (wing morphology p8 &gt; p7 &gt; p6 &gt; p5 &gt; p9 &gt; p4 ~ p10 &gt; p3 and with p8-p10 notched and p7-p9 emarginated); tail is squared.". Pics and discussion on blog: https://birdingthroughglass.blogspot.com/2026/04/swainsons-hawk-pt-mouillee-11-apr-2026.html
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  6
Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S320389942

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)