{"id":46272,"date":"2017-04-16T05:42:18","date_gmt":"2017-04-16T11:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46272"},"modified":"2024-07-02T14:53:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T19:53:35","slug":"cooperative-dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-up-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/16\/cooperative-dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-up-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooperative Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Up Close"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PerchedPerched dark morph Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled and delighted to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson’s Hawk up close yesterday morning in northern Utah. I see more light and intermediate morph Swainson’s Hawks where I live so dark morphs are truly a treat for me to have in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

\"ViewView of dark morph Swainson’s Hawk on a fence post – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 50mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swainson’s Hawk was perched on a fence post at the side of a road where there is a moderate amount of traffic, I wanted to include this photo for a wider view of the setting.\u00a0 I was on the shoulder of the opposite side of the road.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk looking right at me – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swainson’s Hawks have only recently returned from their wintering grounds in South America, some of them travel as far as 14,000 miles when they migrate.<\/p>\n

This dark morph Swainson’s was close enough that with my long lens and teleconverter I was able to take portraits of it while it rested, looked around, defecated, roused and scratched its head. I loved being able to see so much detail in its chocolatey brown plumage and look into its beautiful eyes.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk dark morph close up – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

If I had approached this hawk on foot it most certainly would have flown away but by being inside a vehicle using it as a mobile blind the hawk seemed very comfortable and did not appear to be stressed at all. Through the years I have noticed that Swainson’s Hawks are typically less skittish than Red-tailed, Rough-legged and Ferruginous Hawks normally are. It was also just below freezing yesterday so the hawk might have been just warming up in the sun and at times they are less skittish then.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk talons – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to include this photo because it shows the talons of the Swainson’s Hawk and how dark its chest and belly are all the way down to its feet.<\/p>\n

In the interest of full disclosure I cloned out a very out of focus, metal fence post top just to the left of my copyright mark that I felt was distracting in this frame. It is rare for me to clone out objects from my photos but here I wanted the focus to be on the hawk and its talons.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk looking over its shoulder – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swainson’s Hawk roused and fluffed up it feathers then turned its head and preened a few feathers on it shoulders which gave me the chance to take this photo of it looking over its shoulder.<\/p>\n

\"PortraitPortrait of a dark morph Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It was such a gorgeous hawk that I gave my shutter button a nice work out yesterday. It isn’t often that I can take such intimate portraits of wild birds of prey so when I can find cooperative birds and can take the close ups without stressing my subject I fire off hundreds of shots.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk up close – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I looked into this hawk’s eyes through my viewfinder I found myself wondering about all the places it has been to and seen in North, South, and Central America.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk dark morph looking down – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This dark morph Swainson’s Hawk may have just been resting up here in northern Utah to make a journey further north to breed but I kind of hope it will stick around so I can photograph it again. Perhaps it will even find a mate here and raise young. 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":"

I was thrilled and delighted to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson’s Hawk up close yesterday morning in northern Utah. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1148,206,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4200,2497,4142,5812,4530,4033,4169,2386,4104,4046,153,4034,1999],"class_list":["post-46272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-swainson-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-buteos","tag-close-up","tag-colors-morphs","tag-dark-morph","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-swainsons-hawk","tag-talons"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-c2k","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":46272,"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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Ever Seen","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Just about one year ago I was thrilled to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson's Hawk that is possibly the darkest, dark morph I have ever seen.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Very dark Swainson's Hawk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-9068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-9068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-9068.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"May 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"All of the Swainson's I photographed the first day of May last year were adults except for what I believe was a sub-adult dark morph Swainson's Hawk and I thought that hawk was a real beauty.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rousing sub-adult dark morph Swainson's Hawk, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-7258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-7258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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