Immature Swainson’s Hawk with wildflowers – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
When I can combine my passion for photographing birds with wildflowers and golden, morning light you can count on me being one happy camper. Two days ago I was able to photograph an immature Swainson’s Hawk in golden light perched on a fence post that was surrounded by bright yellow common sunflowers. Yes, I was blissed out.
I had photographed an adult Swainson’s on the way to auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge not long before I spotted this immature hawk on the fence post. While I photographed the adult I could hear the cries of this young hawk but it sounded further away because of glass windows blocking the sound of the calls and it even sounded like the calls were coming from a different direction. The young Swainson’s seemed to glow in the early morning light and so did the sunflowers and the fence post it was perched on.
Calling immature Swainson’s Hawk and wild sunflowers – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited
After taking a series of photos with my teleconverter on I removed it in case the immature hawk decided to lift off to reduce the chances of clipping wings or tail feathers but the young Swainson’s stayed on the fence post resting and calling out intermittently.
It is always tough to decide whether to stay with a bird for the possibility of lift off or flight shots or to move on when they don’t appear inclined to be active but in this case I wanted to find the rare Brown Pelican on the Bear River and that helped me to decide to move forward.
The Swainson’s Hawks we have here in northern Utah will be migrating soon and I wish this young one a safe journey.
Common Sunflower blossom at Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Because there were out of focus common sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) in the two Swainson’s Hawk photos above I wanted to include these close up images of sunflowers that are in focus to show the details that can’t be seen in the hawk photos.
Common Sunflower in bloom and setting seed – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I love seeing and photographing these yellow wildflowers whenever I get the chance and sometimes I find surprise birds hiding in them when I am checking the flowers out through my viewfinder but that is a subject for another post. 🙂
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Swainson’s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos.
Great shots of both the Swainson’s and the sunflower.
Of course you were blissed out. What a wonderful start to a day.
The immature Swainson’s hawk looks a lot like am mature Prairie Falson.
Robert, I answered your inquiry a few days ago, could you check your spam folder?
Great young Swainson’s picture. Probably headed south. Just a teaser before they’re gone for another six months.
Lovely pictures! So spotty! Thank you.
I love the look on the juvenile Swainson’s Hawk’s ‘face’ in the first photo as if to say, “What is she doing?” Beautiful!
The top image is absolutely beautiful!