{"id":15518,"date":"2014-07-30T06:04:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T12:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15518"},"modified":"2026-02-02T07:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:37:33","slug":"swainsons-hawk-in-southwestern-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/07\/30\/swainsons-hawk-in-southwestern-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Swainson’s Hawk In Southwestern Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk lifting off from a grassy slope – Nikon D7100, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC at 500mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I was able to photograph this Swainson’s Hawk in southwestern Montana as it lifted off from a grassy slope heading up Monida Hill. The bird was on the wrong side of the pickup so I slipped out the door and balanced my lens on the top of the pickup bed.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk gaining air speed\u00a0– Nikon D7100, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC at 500mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Swainson’s Hawk’s legs were still dangling below it when this frame was taken and it sure looked like it had something targeted with its eyes. I wouldn’t want to be a grasshopper while this hawk was around.<\/p>\n

\"EyeEye level Swainson’s Hawk\u00a0– Nikon D7100, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC at 500mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By the time I took this image the Swainson’s had tucked its legs close to its body for less air resistance. The slope of Monida Hill<\/span><\/a> in the background does look a bit messy but this is where these insect eating hawks are found foraging.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk in flight\u00a0– Nikon D7100, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC at 500mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This Swainson’s and what appeared to be its mate seem to favor this hill. This wasn’t the only time I saw them on the hill or on nearby power poles. I didn’t see any juvenile Swainson’s this trip but I hope to on another journey.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Swainson\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Note: I want to update my viewers on the Utah Crow Hunt. Yesterday we had a large turnout for the Wildlife Board hearing on the crow hunt, most were opposed to the hunt and we even had some hunters voice their opposition. Two members of the board voted against the hunt. Thank you Bill Fenimore and Mike King, your votes are much appreciated.<\/p>\n

Three members of the board voted for the hunt, they are John Bair, Calvin Crandall, and Steve Dalton.<\/p>\n

This isn’t over yet. Our voices will not be ignored. Once the audio minutes for the meeting are posted on the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources web site I plan to do another post on this issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week while in Montana and Idaho I was able to photograph this Swainson’s Hawk as it lifted off from a grassy slope heading up Monida Hill. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,206],"tags":[4004,4945,2663,4200,4052,4122,4738,4033,4169,4944,2618,153,4034],"class_list":["post-15518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-swainson-hawks","tag-adult","tag-air-speed","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-grasshopper","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-lifting-off","tag-monida-hill","tag-raptors","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-3540.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-42i","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8552,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/09\/swainsons-hawks-in-montana-and-the-chase-is-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":15518,"position":0},"title":"Swainson’s Hawks In Montana – And The Chase Is On","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've just returned from spending six wonderful days photographing in western Montana, the weather was lovely, the scenery spectacular and the birds; as usual, were awesome including these two Swainson's Hawks.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swainson\u2019s Hawk in its first spring, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9300,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/28\/the-summer-of-swainsons-is-nearing-an-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":15518,"position":2},"title":"The Summer of Swainson’s Is Nearing An End","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It won't be long before Swainson's Hawks start to migrate to South America and some may already have started their journey south.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swainson's Hawk adult gliding 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2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Swainson's Hawk chicks on their nest tree, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/swainsons-hawk-chicks-nest-mia-mcpherson-3125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/swainsons-hawk-chicks-nest-mia-mcpherson-3125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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It means with patience and plenty of time in the field I do get it right.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Portrait of a Swainson's Hawk light morph juvenile","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3666.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}