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 of the second.

This year the Centennial Valley was loaded with Swainson’s Hawk juvies.  At times we could see a dozen or more of these birds soaring the thermals or on the ground hunting grasshoppers.  Getting close to them was another story.

Ron