Three days ago I felt fortunate to come across a mated pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County, Montana, the male was an intermediate morph and the female was a light morph.

A male Swainson's Hawk in Beaverhead County

A male Swainson’s Hawk in Beaverhead County – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

I am back from my photo journey to eastern Idaho and southern Montana and I have 4,648 images to go through, cull, and select the best of them. When I am on trips like this one I tend to take tons of images but that also means lots of work when I get back.

The male is shown in the photo above and has more rufous on his chest than the female does.

A female Swainson's Hawk in Beaverhead County

A female Swainson’s Hawk in Beaverhead County – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

And the female is shown in this image. Both hawks perched for a bit on fence posts along the side of the dirt road with a hillside in the background that is greening up.

A copulating pair of Swainson's Hawks

A copulating pair of Swainson’s Hawks – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

Before the two images above were created the pair of Swainson’s Hawks mated in the distance and I was able to get a few images where I could see and get light their eyes but I was a long way from the hawks. I wish I had been a bit closer and that I had been on the other side of the birds for better light but I was happy to get images of them copulating because bird behavior fascinates me.

I had a great trip.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Swainson’s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.