{"id":26317,"date":"2015-07-04T06:04:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-04T12:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=26317"},"modified":"2026-02-02T07:18:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:18:01","slug":"a-pair-of-swainsons-hawks-in-beaverhead-county-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/04\/a-pair-of-swainsons-hawks-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swainson’s Hawks<\/h2>\n

\"RestingResting female Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I am itching to get back out in the field with Swainson’s Hawks partly because they are handsome raptors and partly because by now there might be some young that have fledged. I don’t know if the pair of hawks in these photographs had success raising young but I know I sure hope they did. This female sure is a beauty!<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Swainson’s Hawk scratching her head – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Swainson’s Hawks are only in the area to breed and raise their young and they spend the rest of the year in South America.\u00a0 There are times when I am photographing them that I almost feel a sense of urgency where with Red-tailed Hawks that are in Utah year round I don’t have that urgent feeling.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk male on an old fence post – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I enjoyed photographing this pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County but I really love photographing the juveniles because they appear to be very interested in the world around them.<\/p>\n

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

Happy Independence Day!<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Swainson’s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am itching to get back out in the field with Swainson’s Hawks partly because they are handsome raptors and partly because by now there might be some young that have fledged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26315,"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":[1513,27,12,206],"tags":[4004,2663,4200,2497,4070,4033,4169,4062,2139,4104,153,4541,2315,4034,5434],"class_list":["post-26317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-montana","category-swainson-hawks","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-buteos","tag-female","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-male","tag-pair","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-scratching","tag-summer-3","tag-swainsons-hawk","tag-valley"],"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