{"id":46797,"date":"2017-05-16T05:31:39","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T11:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46797"},"modified":"2021-03-31T04:18:16","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T10:18:16","slug":"swainsons-hawks-along-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/16\/swainsons-hawks-along-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Swainson’s Hawks Along the Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Roadside<\/a>Roadside Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

There are so many Swainson’s Hawks in northern Utah right now, I see them perched, on their nests, hovering over fields and soaring on the thermals after the sun warms up the air. Yesterday morning I was able to photograph two Swainson’s Hawks that were perched close together next to a well traveled road.<\/p>\n

\"Morning<\/a>Morning light on a Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Trucks zoomed by and these hawks just ignored them and only followed the vehicles with their eyes. There was a cool breeze blowing at the time and the Swainson’s Hawks may have been just enjoying the warmth of the sun on their feathers. I’m not sure but I am glad they were cooperative birds because that allowed me to photograph them for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Rocks,<\/a>Rocks, grasses, clouds and sagebrush – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18 mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Swainson\u2019s Hawks prefer wide open habitat including grasslands, prairies, agricultural fields and I will also see them perched on cliff faces surveying the grasslands below. Lately all I have to do once I am outside of the city is look up and I can see these beautiful raptors on the wing.<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/a>Close up of a sub-adult light morph Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This handsome Swainson’s Hawk’s plumage confuses me a little, I know it is a light morph Swainson’s and I believe it is a sub-adult because its plumage isn’t what I expect see in an adult nor is it the plumage of a first Spring bird. It might be a second Spring bird?<\/p>\n

\"Light<\/a>Light morph sub-adult Swainson’s Hawk on a post – Nikon D500, f11, 1\/320, ISO 400, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

However old this Swainson’s Hawk is I think it is a handsome raptor and I am glad it tolerated being photographed from across the road.<\/p>\n

\"Cliff<\/a>Cliff face, mountains and clouds – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18 mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As much as I love photographing birds I also love seeing the country they live in and fly over. I took the two landscape images a few days ago because I loved the combination of sky, clouds and land formations. The country side here in northern Utah is always a visual delight to my eyes.<\/p>\n

So are the birds.<\/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":"

There are so many Swainson’s Hawks in northern Utah right now, I see them perched, on their nests, hovering over fields and soaring on the thermals after the sun warms up the air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46785,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,206,26],"tags":[2663,4200,4142,4169,2386,2670,4099,4104,4394,153,5300,2239,4034],"class_list":["post-46797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-swainson-hawks","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-close-up","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-light-morph","tag-morning-light","tag-perched","tag-post","tag-raptors","tag-roadside","tag-sub-adult","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/swainsons-hawk-adult-mia-mcpherson-4067.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-caN","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":46797,"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, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/swainsons-hawk-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-8199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/swainsons-hawk-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-8199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/swainsons-hawk-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-8199.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/swainsons-hawk-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-8199.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46428,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/23\/photographing-swainsons-hawks-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":46797,"position":1},"title":"Photographing Swainson’s Hawks in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning in northern Utah I saw about a dozen Swainson's Hawks in about 2.25 miles, some were perched, some were in flight and all of them were wonderful to photograph.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of dark morph Swainson's Hawk in golden light","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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post","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9601.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9601.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9601.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9601.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":85096,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/19\/spring-swainsons-hawk-in-sage\/","url_meta":{"origin":46797,"position":4},"title":"Spring Swainson’s Hawk In Sage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Swainson's Hawk that I spent the most time photographing was snuggled into the top of a sage and he was very calm and confiding.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Swainson's Hawk nestled into sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/swainsons-hawk-adult-sage-mia-mcpherson-6411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/swainsons-hawk-adult-sage-mia-mcpherson-6411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/swainsons-hawk-adult-sage-mia-mcpherson-6411.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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