{"id":51822,"date":"2018-04-26T04:57:51","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T10:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51822"},"modified":"2021-04-15T03:54:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T09:54:17","slug":"intermediate-morph-swainsons-hawk-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/26\/intermediate-morph-swainsons-hawk-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Intermediate Morph Swainson&#8217;s Hawk In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-51821 size-full\" title=\"Intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk in flight with mountains in the background, Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821.jpg\" alt=\"Intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk in flight with mountains in the background, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Intermediate morph Swainson&#8217;s Hawk in flight with mountains in the background &#8211; Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last week I was able to photograph several Swainson&#8217;s Hawks, some perched and others while in flight and of the flight photos I liked this photo the most because of the mountains in the background. The mountains anchor the photo and provide visual interest even though they are out of focus.<\/p>\n<p>I did make a few mistakes with my settings while taking this photo though. This was taken right after I arrived at my location, I hadn&#8217;t checked my aperture setting and given the lighting conditions I would not normally have been at f9, typically I start off the day at f6.3 or f7.1 and adjust it as I need to during the day. I would have had more shutter speed if I had had the time to make the adjustment and because I didn&#8217;t my shutter speed was slow and there is a lot of motion blur in the wing tips of this hawk in this photo.\u00a0 I kind of like the motion blur though so I am not going to sweat the small things.<\/p>\n<p>I do like the way the Swainson&#8217;s Hawk appears to be looking at something high in the sky, the light and how nicely lit the hawk is.<\/p>\n<p>Hoping to see more of these hawks soon!<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/swainsons-hawk-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Swainson\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I was able to photograph several Swainson&#8217;s Hawks, some perched and others while in flight and of the flight photos I liked this photo the most because of the mountains in the background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51821,"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":[1148,206,26],"tags":[4004,2663,2069,4200,4052,4033,4169,2386,5045,4069,153,4034],"class_list":["post-51822","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-blue-sky","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-flight","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-intermediate-morph","tag-mountains","tag-raptors","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-9821.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dtQ","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":51822,"position":0},"title":"Dark Morph Swainson&#8217;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 &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":51822,"position":1},"title":"Photographing Swainson&#8217;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 &quot;Birds&quot;","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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4258.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4258.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42229,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/25\/farewell-to-the-swainsons-hawks-im-looking-forward-to-rough-legged-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":51822,"position":2},"title":"Farewell To The Swainson&#8217;s Hawks &#8211; I&#8217;m Looking Forward To Rough-legged Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though I am saying a fond farewell to the Swainson's Hawks I'm also looking forward to Rough-legged Hawks gracing my life for another season.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eye level Rough-legged Hawk in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-gliding-mia-mcpherson-9388.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9067,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/01\/two-different-swainsons-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":51822,"position":3},"title":"Two different Swainson&#8217;s Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Red-tailed Hawks have the most variable plumages of North American hawks but Swainson's Hawks are also pretty variable, there are light morphs, intermediate morphs and dark morphs.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Swainson's Hawk intermediate morph","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/swainsons-hawk-adult-flying-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/swainsons-hawk-adult-flying-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/swainsons-hawk-adult-flying-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/swainsons-hawk-adult-flying-mia-mcpherson-6956.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42236,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/26\/autumn-swainsons-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":51822,"position":4},"title":"Autumn Swainson&#8217;s Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Mid-morning I found a perched intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk in Box Elder County and was delighted when it didn't fly off immediately.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk staring at me","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/swinsons-hawk-intermediate-morph-mia-mcpherson-3840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/swinsons-hawk-intermediate-morph-mia-mcpherson-3840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/swinsons-hawk-intermediate-morph-mia-mcpherson-3840.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/swinsons-hawk-intermediate-morph-mia-mcpherson-3840.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50679,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/15\/box-elder-county-dark-morph-swainsons-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":51822,"position":5},"title":"Box Elder County Dark Morph Swainson\u2019s Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When I can get beautiful light on a Swainson's Hawk and deeply shadowed mountains in the background Mother Nature creates the drama.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark morph Swainson's Hawk with shadowed mountains in the 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