{"id":26006,"date":"2015-06-30T04:23:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T10:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=26006"},"modified":"2026-02-02T07:18:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:18:21","slug":"a-swainsons-hawk-in-box-elder-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/06\/30\/a-swainsons-hawk-in-box-elder-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Swainson’s Hawk in Box Elder County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Swainson's<\/a>Swainson’s Hawk perched on a lichen covered boulder – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I am always happy to photograph Swainson’s Hawks no matter where I find them so I was pleased to find this one perched on a lichen covered rock yesterday in Box Elder County<\/span><\/a>, Utah. Quite often I find them perched on power poles so any natural perch is great in my opinion. The hawk looked handsome, even regal on that perch.<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Northern Mockingbird attacks a Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn’t photographing the hawk for very long when a Bullock’s Oriole flew in to harass it and shortly after that a Northern Mockingbird started to harass the hawk too. I was able to get all three birds in the frame at the same time but I like the pose seen here of the mockingbird. The hawk stood its ground for a little while but…<\/p>\n

\"Swainson's<\/a>Swainson’s Hawk lifting off from a lichen covered boulder – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When it had enough of the mockingbird it lifted off. It wasn’t until I reviewed the images of the Swainson’s Hawk on my LCD screen that I realized the hawk was molting and that some of the primary feathers were missing.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson's<\/a>Swainson’s Hawk in molt – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This image doesn’t show it but in another blurry frame as the hawk flew overhead I could see that it was also missing a few tail feathers and some of the secondaries were messed up too. Regardless of the condition of the primary feathers this Swainson’s Hawk in Box Elder County was a real treat.<\/p>\n

I see and photograph such interesting things as a bird photographer and I am grateful for it all.<\/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":"

I am always happy to photograph Swainson’s Hawks no matter where I find them so I was pleased to find this one perched on a lichen covered rock yesterday in Box Elder County, Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26004,"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":[27,1148,206,26],"tags":[4004,5028,2663,4138,4200,2497,4052,4122,4033,4169,3291,4282,821,820,2312,2313,4192,4104,153,2817,4057,4034],"class_list":["post-26006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-swainson-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-attack","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-boulder","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-buteos","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-lichen","tag-lift-off","tag-mimids-2","tag-mimus-polyglottos","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-northern-mockingbird","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/swainsons-hawk-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-2758.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6Ls","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105569,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/29\/dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":26006,"position":0},"title":"Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult dark morph Swainson's Hawk in lift off pose, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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McPherson","date":"March 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cooper's Hawk took flight without much warning at all and for a second I lost it while tracking the hawk but regained focus as it flew south past me.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cooper's Hawk fly by, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-3227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-3227.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-3227.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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