Swainson’s Hawk

Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Photos

By |2022-08-29T03:18:20-06:00August 29th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Early yesterday morning on my way to the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was delighted to see and photograph not just one dark morph Swainson's Hawk but two.

Wet Swainson’s Hawk In A Storm

By |2021-03-31T04:44:05-06:00May 19th, 2020|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This adult male Swainson's Hawk was perched near his nest in a light rain and although he looked soaking wet that didn't appear to bother him much at all.

Swainson’s Hawk Chicks, Sub-adult And Adults

By |2021-03-09T04:18:29-07:00March 31st, 2020|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Box Elder County, Centennial Valley, Clark County, Idaho, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.

Rough-legged Hawks Will Be Leaving – Swainson’s Hawks Will Arrive Soon

By |2021-03-31T14:14:55-06:00February 29th, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It is almost time for me to see a seasonal switch of raptors here in northern Utah because the Rough-legged Hawks will leaving and the Swainson's will arrive soon.

Immature Swainson’s Hawk In Changing Light

By |2021-04-15T03:51:25-06:00September 9th, 2019|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This photo session with an immature Swainson's Hawk reinforced how as a bird photographer I need to not only be keenly aware of changing light it also showed how I may need to quickly change my settings to get the photos I want.

Immature Swainson’s Hawk, Golden Light And Common Sunflowers

By |2021-05-16T06:14:14-06:00September 6th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Staring Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Close Up

By |2021-03-31T05:57:31-06:00April 4th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and I've written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.

Sub-adult Swainson’s Hawk in Northern Utah

By |2021-03-31T05:52:44-06:00October 29th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

By this time of the year Swainson's Hawks have left Utah and headed towards South America to their wintering grounds but the memories I have of the hawks never leave me.

Male Northern Harrier Diving After Falling Prey – Paying Attention Beyond the Viewfinder

By |2021-04-10T04:08:46-06:00May 5th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was able to take these photos of the male Northern Harrier diving after his falling prey because I looked beyond my viewfinder and quickly locked onto the action happening overhead.

Intermediate Morph Swainson’s Hawk In Flight

By |2021-04-15T03:54:17-06:00April 26th, 2018|Categories: Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last week I was able to photograph several Swainson's Hawks, some perched and others while in flight and of the flight photos I liked this photo the most because of the mountains in the background.

Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk – Possibly The Darkest I Have Ever Seen

By |2021-04-15T04:57:47-06:00April 18th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Just about one year ago I was thrilled to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson's Hawk that is possibly the darkest, dark morph I have ever seen.

Nest Building Marsh Wren Plus A Surprise Ferruginous Hawk And FOY Swainson’s Hawk

By |2023-09-19T16:10:52-06:00March 28th, 2018|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Ferruginous Hawks, Marsh Wrens, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It was a wonderful morning spotting both the Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks, seeing quite a few other first of season birds and spending time photographing the Marsh Wren while he was busy constructing his nest.

Swainson’s Hawks Heading Our Way

By |2021-03-31T14:18:50-06:00February 28th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

These two Swainson's Hawk photos were taken in May of last year up in northern Utah from inside a vehicle being used as a mobile blind and both were photographed from the side of a road where they had become accustomed to traffic going by so they weren't skittish at all.

My Year of Bird Photography in 2017

By |2020-12-29T16:50:22-07:00December 31st, 2017|Categories: American Tree Sparrows, American White Pelicans, Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Green-tailed Towhees, Idaho, Prairie Falcons, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Short-eared Owls, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Yellow-rumped Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I love what I do, I love my subjects and it doesn't matter if I find them close to home or further away. I am blessed. 2017 has been wonderful and I am excited for what 2018 may bring.

Feathered Tarsi – Ferruginous & Rough-legged Hawks Have Feathered Legs

By |2021-09-23T13:46:17-06:00November 7th, 2017|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Ferruginous Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

North America has two hawk (buteos) species that have feathered tarsi, or legs, those two species are Ferruginous Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks.

Time to be on the Lookout for Juvenile Swainson’s Hawks

By |2021-03-31T05:48:41-06:00August 15th, 2017|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I saw my first juvenile Swainson's Hawk of the year last week and although it didn't give me any opportunities to take better images of it I was happy to see it perched on a power pole.

Swainson’s Hawk with Damage to the Feathers of the Underwing Coverts

By |2021-03-31T14:28:50-06:00July 15th, 2017|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I simply don't know what caused this kind of feather damage and I hope that someone can give me a better idea of what was going on with this Swainson's Hawk.

Swainson’s Hawks Along the Road

By |2021-03-31T04:18:16-06:00May 16th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There are so many Swainson's Hawks in northern Utah right now, I see them perched, on their nests, hovering over fields and soaring on the thermals after the sun warms up the air.

Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk with Different Backgrounds and Distances

By |2021-03-31T14:33:05-06:00May 2nd, 2017|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I always try to pay attention to what is going on in the background of my photos because by changing distance or angles the same bird, like this Swainson's Hawk, can look very different in my images.

Photographing Swainson’s Hawks in Northern Utah

By |2021-04-27T04:31:49-06:00April 23rd, 2017|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning in northern Utah I saw about a dozen Swainson's Hawks in about 2.25 miles, some were perched, some were in flight and all of them were wonderful to photograph.

My First of Year Swainson’s Hawk and April Snow on Antelope Island

By |2021-03-16T15:14:58-06:00April 10th, 2017|Categories: American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Wildlife|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

My best find of the day was my first of the year Swainson's Hawk about two thirds of the way down the island perched in some trees near a freshwater spring.

Winter Clashes With Spring – Seasonal Changes Make Bird Photography Interesting

By |2020-03-25T08:15:57-06:00March 6th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Turkey Vultures, Utah, Western Kingbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Winter is clashing with spring right now in northern Utah and those seasonal changes can make bird photography interesting.

American White Pelicans, Sandhill Cranes, Swainson’s Hawks – Spring Migrants On The Wing

By |2021-03-02T13:56:20-07:00February 19th, 2017|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, Birds, Box Elder County, Sandhill Cranes, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

We still have our winter birds and the spring migrants have begun their journey north so my bird photography is likely to pick up and get exciting soon if the clouds will give me a break.

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