![\"swainson's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/swainsons-hawk-9895-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTypically I tend to not be a fan of flight shots where\u00a0the bird is already past me but though this Swainson’s Hawk has already done so I keep coming back to the image for a combination of reasons.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, canvas added for composition,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I photographed the hawk at the end of June in Clark County, Idaho as it lifted off from a telephone pole.\u00a0 There’s a slight head turn toward me that helps to make up for the angle I have on the bird and I like the detail, the flight posture, the light on the bird and the clouds in the background that make the blue of the sky a little more interesting.\u00a0 But I’m especially drawn to the\u00a0plumage patterns and colors\u00a0where the\u00a0light-colored\u00a0underwing coverts meet the base of the darker\u00a0flight feathers.\u00a0\u00a0To my eye the\u00a0contrast in colors, patterns and shapes is\u00a0visually interesting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps a ridiculously tight crop of the same image\u00a0will help to highlight the feather patterns for the viewer.<\/p>\n I also notice two more interesting things about the bird – the open alula on the “wrist” of the\u00a0left wing (to prevent stalling at the slow flight speeds of take-off) and the slightly unusual double catch-light in the eye.\u00a0\u00a0Multiple catch-lights are often caused as light\u00a0from a low sun bounces off of a choppy\u00a0water surface and into the eye\u00a0but there was no water nearby so I have no idea what caused the effect here.<\/p>\n I wish I knew more about raptor plumages and molt because I’m curious about the uneven and deeply scalloped\u00a0border between the wing coverts and remiges of\u00a0 this hawk – whether it’s caused by uneven\u00a0growth of previously molted feathers or this is the normal appearance of those feathers after the molt is complete.\u00a0 So much to\u00a0learn…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Typically I tend to not be a fan of flight shots where the bird is already past me but though this Swainson’s Hawk has already done so I keep coming back to the image for a combination of reasons.<\/p>\n![\"swainson's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/swainsons-hawk-9895b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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