{"id":21472,"date":"2015-04-08T06:12:20","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T12:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=21472"},"modified":"2021-03-31T15:53:17","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T21:53:17","slug":"return-of-the-swainsons-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/04\/08\/return-of-the-swainsons-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Return of the Swainson’s Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Swainson’s Hawk Calling – Nikon D300, f8, 1\/400, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited (2012)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I saw my first of the season Swainson’s Hawk not too far from the visitor’s center at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and that got me excited. The Swainson’s Hawk I saw already had nesting material in it’s bill. Soon I will be seeing these handsome hawks in many locations in Utah, Idaho and Montana. This time of the year I will see adults…<\/p>\n

\"Sub-adultSub-adult Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 350mm, natural light, not baited (2013)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

And sub-adults like this one I photographed in the Centennial Valley of Montana two summers ago. That fall I saw a kettle of about 70 Swainson’s Hawks over a field just about the time they would begin to migrate south, I was in awe seeing so many of them together like that.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Swainson’s Hawk in flight – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 170mm, natural light, not baited (2014)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I won’t see juvenile Swainson’s Hawks until later in the summer but I always enjoy watching and photographing them once they have fledged and are learning to hunt on their own.<\/p>\n

All of these images were taken in the Centennial Valley of Montana. It was in that valley that I photographed my very first Swainson’s Hawk juvenile, I will never forget that!<\/p>\n

With the return of the Swainson’s Hawks will it be the summer of the Swainson’s? Time will tell.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I saw my first of the season Swainson’s Hawk not too far from the visitor’s center at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge and that got me excited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,608,206],"tags":[4004,4021,2663,3489,4200,4033,4169,2237,4071,530,2239,4034],"class_list":["post-21472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-swainson-hawks","tag-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-montana","tag-juvenile","tag-migration","tag-sub-adult","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t