{"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":"2026-04-11T13:37:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T18:37:29","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,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

\"CliffCliff 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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_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":[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":[],"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