{"id":28219,"date":"2015-09-09T04:30:18","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T10:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=28219"},"modified":"2026-02-02T07:09:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:09:44","slug":"a-centennial-valley-swainsons-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/09\/a-centennial-valley-swainsons-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Centennial Valley Swainson’s Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am enjoying my time in the Centennial Valley especially when I can spend time photographing raptors like this adult light morph Swainson’s Hawk.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Swainson’s Hawk on a gnarly old fence post – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It had been just about 2 1\/2 months since I have been here and it has changed from luscious greens to golden colored grasses. It was pretty brisk yesterday morning with a low of 14\u00b0F but it felt invigorating after a long, hot summer in the Salt Lake Valley.<\/p>\n

I was tickled when I found this Swainson’s Hawk perched on this gnarly fence post in the morning light.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk in the Centennial Valley of Montana – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to share an image with the hawk small in the frame and the out of focus mountains on the north side of the valley still showing some purple shadows in the sections the sun hadn’t kissed yet. The metal things on the left side of the fence post are bent, rusty nails.<\/p>\n

By this time of the morning it was a whopping 32 degrees!<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk lift off with one talon on the fence post – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I was glad I had my TC off and was using full frame mode when the Swainson’s Hawk took off because it meant I didn’t clip a wing, a tail or the head of the hawk with any of my shots and I really loved this pose and how one talon was still barely touching the fence post when this frame was taken.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Swainson’s Hawk in flight over Centennial Valley – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Swainson’s flew west I was able to get a few more images of it in flight where I still had some light in the eye.<\/p>\n

Swainson’s Hawks<\/span><\/a> are one of my favorite raptors and I am always happy to spend time photographing and observing them but even more so when the location is as beautiful as the Centennial Valley of Montana.<\/p>\n

Life is 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

(PS, all birds are my favorites)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am enjoying my time in the Centennial Valley especially when I can spend time photographing raptors like this adult light morph Swainson’s Hawk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28216,"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":[4004,2663,4200,4052,4122,4033,4169,2237,4282,2670,4104,153,4034],"class_list":["post-28219","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-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-montana","tag-lift-off","tag-light-morph","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/swainsons-hawk-adult-mia-mcpherson-4620.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-7l9","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":28219,"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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2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A month ago I was in the Centennial Valley of Montana camping and the hawks I spent the most time photographing were 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":"Light morph Swainson's Hawk in flight over the Centennial Valley","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/swainsons-hawk-light-morph-mia-mcpherson-2871.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/swainsons-hawk-light-morph-mia-mcpherson-2871.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/swainsons-hawk-light-morph-mia-mcpherson-2871.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/swainsons-hawk-adult-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-1599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/swainsons-hawk-adult-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-1599.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/swainsons-hawk-adult-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-1599.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/swainsons-hawk-adult-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-1599.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6592,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/17\/swainsons-hawk-in-the-centennial-valley-of-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":28219,"position":3},"title":"Swainson’s Hawk in the Centennial Valley of Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This adult Swainson's had two juveniles nearby that were perched on the conifer tree that their natal nest was in and the sun was getting close to setting. Sometimes I wish I could \"speak\" raptor so I could know what they are saying.","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":"Calling adult Swainson's Hawk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/swainsons-hawk-adult-calling-mia-mcpherson-3534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/swainsons-hawk-adult-calling-mia-mcpherson-3534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/swainsons-hawk-adult-calling-mia-mcpherson-3534.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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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 by","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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