Swainson’s Hawks are large hawks with short tails, broad wings, reddish brown to gray upperparts and generally have light bellies. Their plumage varies and they can be seen in light morphs, intermediate morphs and dark morphs.
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.
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.
I have shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and since today is the four year anniversary of me finding it I thought I would share one more.
I haven't found my first of season Swainson's Hawk yet but I expect that to change any day now as spring migration is almost in full swing.
This adult male Swainson's Hawk was perched near his nest in a light rain and although he looked soaking wet that didn't appear to bother him much at all.
These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.
It is almost time for me to see a seasonal switch of raptors here in northern Utah because the Rough-legged Hawks will leaving and the Swainson's will arrive soon.
This photo session with an immature Swainson's Hawk reinforced how as a bird photographer I need to not only be keenly aware of changing light it also showed how I may need to quickly change my settings to get the photos I want.
Two days ago I was able to photograph an immature Swainson's Hawk in golden light perched on a fence post that was surrounded by bright yellow common sunflowers. Yes, I was blissed out.
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.
By this time of the year Swainson's Hawks have left Utah and headed towards South America to their wintering grounds but the memories I have of the hawks never leave me.
I was able to take these photos of the male Northern Harrier diving after his falling prey because I looked beyond my viewfinder and quickly locked onto the action happening overhead.
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.
Last week I was able to photograph several Swainson'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.
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.
It was a wonderful morning spotting both the Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks, seeing quite a few other first of season birds and spending time photographing the Marsh Wren while he was busy constructing his nest.
These two Swainson's Hawk photos were taken in May of last year up in northern Utah from inside a vehicle being used as a mobile blind and both were photographed from the side of a road where they had become accustomed to traffic going by so they weren't skittish at all.
When I can get beautiful light on a Swainson's Hawk and deeply shadowed mountains in the background Mother Nature creates the drama.
I love what I do, I love my subjects and it doesn't matter if I find them close to home or further away. I am blessed. 2017 has been wonderful and I am excited for what 2018 may bring.
North America has two hawk (buteos) species that have feathered tarsi, or legs, those two species are Ferruginous Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks.
I saw my first juvenile Swainson's Hawk of the year last week and although it didn't give me any opportunities to take better images of it I was happy to see it perched on a power pole.
I simply don't know what caused this kind of feather damage and I hope that someone can give me a better idea of what was going on with this Swainson's Hawk.
Yesterday morning I photographed this Swainson's Hawk while it perched on a fence post in northern Utah
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.
I always try to pay attention to what is going on in the background of my photos because by changing distance or angles the same bird, like this Swainson's Hawk, can look very different in my images.
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.
I was thrilled and delighted to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson's Hawk up close yesterday morning in northern Utah.
My best find of the day was my first of the year Swainson's Hawk about two thirds of the way down the island perched in some trees near a freshwater spring.
Winter is clashing with spring right now in northern Utah and those seasonal changes can make bird photography interesting.
We still have our winter birds and the spring migrants have begun their journey north so my bird photography is likely to pick up and get exciting soon if the clouds will give me a break.