Swainson’s Hawk – Just Because I Like It
For better or worse the background of an image can have a significant impact on an image. This is one that works well for me.
Tag: light morph
Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk – An Athletic Takeoff
Whenever I catch this posture at takeoff I’m always impressed by the physical effort and athletic ability required to become airborne.
Swainson’s Hawk Harassed By An Oriole And A Mockingbird
Swainson’s Hawk In Flight (and an optical illusion involving the catch light)
Mating Swainson’s Hawks Sequence
Five days ago I photographed an entire mating sequence of a pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County, Montana.
Curious Swainson’s Hawk Checking Me Out In Flight
Occasionally soaring raptors fly in quite close to observers and I’m convinced that sometimes it’s simply a matter of curiosity.
Swainson’s Hawk In Flight
This is the time of year that Swainson’s Hawks usually begin to converge on the Centennial Valley to feast on grasshoppers and believe me the area produces grasshoppers in abundance – probably more of them than I’ve ever seen elsewhere (and I grew up on a Montana farm where grasshoppers were unfortunately one of our most successful crops).
Two Recent Swainson’s Hawks
So far this year Swainson’s Hawk populations seem to be a little spotty. I’m finding them in normal concentrations in some areas but in others where there’s been good numbers of them in the past they seem to be rare or nonexistent. I’m not really alarmed about it, rather I suspect this is just one more example of localized bird numbers being difficult to predict.
Dark Morph Rough-legged Hawk In Flight
The dark morph color phase of the Rough-legged Hawk is a near-nemesis bird for me but two days ago I found one in Utah Valley.
Rough-legged Hawk – Topside View, With Prey
It’s pretty unusual to be able to see prey in the talons with a topside view of a hawk in flight.
Subadult Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk
I’m always interested in the color phases of the various raptors I encounter so when we found this subadult Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk on July 25 on our last trip to southwest Montana it got my attention. These worn young birds look white-headed in spring and early summer because of fading – much different from the adults.
Light Red-tailed Hawk
Yesterday we found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on one of the darker Farmington Canyon Complex rocks on Antelope Island. I thought the generally light coloration of this bird to be slightly unusual but I’m certainly no expert on the color phases and morphs of this highly variable species.
-
Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk – An Athletic Takeoff
Whenever I catch this posture at takeoff I’m always impressed by the physical effort and athletic ability required to become airborne.
Swainson’s Hawk Harassed By An Oriole And A Mockingbird
Swainson’s Hawk In Flight (and an optical illusion involving the catch light)
Mating Swainson’s Hawks Sequence
Five days ago I photographed an entire mating sequence of a pair of Swainson’s Hawks in Beaverhead County, Montana.
Curious Swainson’s Hawk Checking Me Out In Flight
Occasionally soaring raptors fly in quite close to observers and I’m convinced that sometimes it’s simply a matter of curiosity.
Swainson’s Hawk In Flight
This is the time of year that Swainson’s Hawks usually begin to converge on the Centennial Valley to feast on grasshoppers and believe me the area produces grasshoppers in abundance – probably more of them than I’ve ever seen elsewhere (and I grew up on a Montana farm where grasshoppers were unfortunately one of our most successful crops).
Two Recent Swainson’s Hawks
So far this year Swainson’s Hawk populations seem to be a little spotty. I’m finding them in normal concentrations in some areas but in others where there’s been good numbers of them in the past they seem to be rare or nonexistent. I’m not really alarmed about it, rather I suspect this is just one more example of localized bird numbers being difficult to predict.
Dark Morph Rough-legged Hawk In Flight
The dark morph color phase of the Rough-legged Hawk is a near-nemesis bird for me but two days ago I found one in Utah Valley.
Rough-legged Hawk – Topside View, With Prey
It’s pretty unusual to be able to see prey in the talons with a topside view of a hawk in flight.
Subadult Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk
I’m always interested in the color phases of the various raptors I encounter so when we found this subadult Light Morph Swainson’s Hawk on July 25 on our last trip to southwest Montana it got my attention. These worn young birds look white-headed in spring and early summer because of fading – much different from the adults.
Light Red-tailed Hawk
Yesterday we found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on one of the darker Farmington Canyon Complex rocks on Antelope Island. I thought the generally light coloration of this bird to be slightly unusual but I’m certainly no expert on the color phases and morphs of this highly variable species.