{"id":57059,"date":"2019-04-04T05:59:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T11:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=57059"},"modified":"2021-03-31T05:57:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T11:57:31","slug":"staring-dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-close-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/04\/staring-dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-close-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Staring Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Close Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StaringStaring dark morph Swainson’s Hawk \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson’s Hawk before and I’ve written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true. I came across the folder that the images of this dark morph hawk are stored in a few days ago and felt I had to go through them again to admire the subdued but powerful beauty of this hawk.<\/p>\n

It was a cold April morning in 2017, the hawk was sticky and I photographed it with ease from inside a vehicle parked on the opposite side of the road. I mentioned before that I find Swainson’s Hawks to be less skittish than Red-tailed, Rough-legged and Ferruginous Hawks but there is a possibility that this particular hawk had just arrived in Utah from its long migration from South America and was tired out. I was able to take close up portraits of the raptor that showed wonderful details in the bird’s plumage.<\/p>\n

When I drive past the location where I photographed this dark morph Swainson’s Hawk during their breeding season I always look for it and remember it fondly.<\/p>\n

So far this year I have only seen Swainson’s Hawks from a distance so I haven’t taken any images of them yet but I am excited to see them and hopefully there will be a few clear days this April when I can go out looking for them again. I know I will be keeping an eye out for the dark morph Swainson’s Hawks because I see fewer of them than I do the light and intermediate morphs.<\/p>\n

Being able to photograph this dark morph Swainson’s Hawk was a real treat for me and I can’t help but smile every time I view the images I took of it.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Swainson\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson’s Hawk before and I’ve written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[2663,4200,2497,4142,4530,4033,4169,2386,4046,153,6205,5875,4034],"class_list":["post-57059","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-buteos","tag-close-up","tag-dark-morph","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-stare","tag-staring","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/swainsons-hawk-dark-morph-stare-mia-mcpherson-9588.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eQj","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":57059,"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":51714,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/18\/dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-possibly-the-darkest-i-have-ever-seen\/","url_meta":{"origin":57059,"position":1},"title":"Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk – Possibly The Darkest I Have 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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