Category: Swainson’s Hawks

Swainson’s Hawks Of Montana’s Centennial Valley

On my trip to Montana’s Centennial Valley last month Swainson’s Hawks were very abundant.  I found two families of them that would reliably hunt close to a road and since they had become habituated to the traffic they were easier for me to approach as long as I stayed in my pickup truck.    1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This was one of two juveniles along the river at the west end of the valley.  Both birds, along with their parents, would repeatedly perch on posts and poles close to my pickup.  But it was very difficult to get an acceptable light angle at this location in the morning so I include only this one shot of those birds.       1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I had more luck with another family (two juvies and one parent) at the east end of the valley.  The light angle was better and I also preferred the fence posts in this area – they were older and had more character.       1/500, f/11, ISO 500, 100-400 @ 400mm Occasionally I was able to get both juveniles in the same shot but of course that situation often brings with it a depth of field problem so I switched to the 100-400 zoom and set my aperture at f/11 and focused on the post between the two birds.  It seemed to work pretty well.       1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  I loved the “butterscotch” colors on these two juveniles – particularly this one.       1/2000,…

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Swainson’s Hawk Regurgitating Pellets

Western Montana has been awash in Swainson’s Hawks this summer.  From the Canadian border (Glacier County) to the southern border with Idaho (Beaverhead County) I found them in significantly larger numbers than I have seen in previous summers.  I hope this very unscientific observation is accurate and that it bodes them well as a species because their numbers have been declining to the point where they are listed as a Species of Special Concern in several western states.    1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4  I found this handsome juvenile this past week along a county road in Beaverhead County.  At first it was very relaxed and assumed this clenched fist pose that is so typical of many buteo species when they’re at ease and resting.      1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 But soon it began to arch its neck and I recognized that it was about to attempt to expel a pellet.  I had already taken my tc off in anticipation of take-off so I decided to leave it off because so often in the past I’ve missed the falling pellet as it dropped out of frame at the bottom.      1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Then, with the nictitating membrane pulled over the eye, the bird began to retch. These few images showing pellet ejection may give the viewer the impression that it all happened very quickly.  It didn’t.  From beginning to end the whole process took over four minutes.  During that time there were alternating periods of retching and resting and it didn’t look to be a…

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Swainson’s Hawk Take-off Sequence

While cruising the back roads of Glacier County, Montana two days ago we came across this Swainson’s Hawk hunting grasshoppers from an old fence post.  Hunting is easy now because it’s harvest time up here and the huge grasshoppers are everywhere – as evidenced by the colorful and greasy windshields of almost every vehicle you see.    1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 When the bird seemed about to take off I made one of those split-second decisions that every bird photographer is faced with.  Since it looked like the hawk might launch at a 90 degree angle to my position (and stay the same distance from me for the first few flight strokes) I decided to prefocus on the bird and then not attempt to actively maintain focus in flight for fear of having focus lock on to the background instead of the bird.  This time it worked…      1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The bird begins to launch.      1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 The beginning of my burst caught the hawk in one of those dynamic, stretched-out postures that I like.  As you can see the bird lost a feather as it took off.      1/4000, f/6.3, iso 500, 500 f/4 By the next wing stroke it was already to the next fence post. I got several more sharp shots as the bird passed to my left but of course the further it flew the less eye contact I had so the early shots were the best of the bunch. The Swainson’s…

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Swainson’s Hawk Take-off

A couple of weeks ago I watched as a couple of juvenile Swainson’s Hawks hunted grasshoppers on the ground in Montana’s Centennial Valley.  The birds were often largely obscured by grasses so I waited for take-off.  .   1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  In a situation like this it’s usually very difficult to lock and maintain focus on the bird as it takes off because of the closeness of the grasses in the background – typically autofocus tries to lock on to the background elements when they’re this close to the subject.  But in this case there was enough contrast between the light-colored grasses and the relatively dark bird that I was able to get 13 images where the bird was sharp and no body parts were clipped.  The problem with many of them (as often happens) was that the timing of the wing flaps was synchronized with the burst rate of my Canon 7D and the wing position in many of those shots wasn’t ideal. I  wasn’t bothered by the flying insect below the bird for two reasons: 1), it amused me because it almost looks like the bug is taking flying lessons from the hawk and 2), it was natural and it was there.      1/2000, f 7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc When I get similar shots such as these I can’t help comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each.  I prefer the better eye contact in the first image but like the wing and tail position and better light under the wing…

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The Swainson’s Hawks Are Finally Back

This morning we headed north once again in quest of Golden Eagles.  We found a few but they were too far away for decent photographs.  The consolation prize was this cooperative Swainson’s Hawk – our first of the season which delighted us.  In fact there were two of them, hanging out in the same general area.    1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 This bird was particularly fond of a couple of telephone poles in northern Box Elder County.  Here it is returning to the pole after leaving it for a short and unsuccessful hunting foray.   I’m not particularly happy with the wire and insulator but I liked the landing pose.       1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Sometimes this hawk perched on the top of the pole but one time it landed on the second wire strung below the first one.  Here it is taking off from that position with the pole directly out of frame to the left.  I like the dynamics of the take-off in contrast to the greater concentration demanded during landing.       1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 I got a few shots of the hawk in full flight with legs tucked away cleanly.       1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 Another take-off and for this one I had to clone out a small bit of the wire at lower left.  Cloning is something I don’t like to do but I do succumb to the temptation occasionally in certain situations.  A judgement call…       1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4 I was…

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Swainson’s Hawk

A recent comment on this blog by Mike Shaw reminded me that I’ve never made a Swainson’s Hawk blog post.   Part of the reason is because I’ve had relatively few opportunities with them so my files are limited.  But in reviewing my images I thought I had enough acceptable photos to make a representative post on the species.  I’ve deliberately chosen shots that show these hawks from a variety of angles – front, back, side and in flight.       1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I found this young bird hunting grasshoppers along a gravel road at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.  It would catch a ‘hopper, eat it on the road and then return to a nearby fencepost to watch for more of them.  The bird seemed to be  fearless and paid me very little attention.      1/1200, f/8, ISO 400, 500 f/4 Occasionally it would land on a different post but it didn’t stray far for quite a while.  With this pose we get a good look at the back side.          1/1600, f/8, ISO 320, 500 f/4 I thought this screaming pose was interesting enough to include here despite the nictitating membrane partially covering the eye and the slight tightness on the tail.        1/1000, f/8, ISO 320, 500 f/4   This is a different bird and I include the image for the good look at the underside plumage patterns in flight.         1/1600, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc I found this cooperative adult at Farmington Bay Wildlife…

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