![\"swainson's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-4057b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn my experience there’s a huge range in the approachability of juvenile raptors, even among siblings.\u00a0 And overall, Swainson’s Hawks seem to be the most approachable of all.\u00a0 This variability was demonstrated during our trip to Montana’s Centennial Valley last week and once again it made me nervous for the safety of the bird.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 135mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n For several days running we found one adult parent and two juvenile Swainson’s Hawks along the same stretch of dirt road at the east end of Red\u00a0Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.\u00a0 All three birds were fairly approachable but this juvenile in particular\u00a0took that trait to extremes.\u00a0 Typically it would perch at eye level\u00a0on the fence posts running within a few feet of the road and wouldn’t even flinch as I drove by (usually to turn around and come back for a better light angle).\u00a0\u00a0Often I would park on the far side of the road while photographing this hawk and even another vehicle (sometimes loud diesel trucks raising huge dust plumes) passing between me and the bird on the road wouldn’t flush the hawk.\u00a0 There were times when I wondered just how close this bird would allow me to get but I never did experiment with it.<\/p>\n All this explains why this image looks different from most of my other similar shots.\u00a0 Even though the background is far away there’s\u00a0still\u00a0discernible detail back\u00a0there because I was only shooting at 135\u00a0mm instead of the 700mm (500mm lens\u00a0+ 1.4 tc) that I most often use for shots like this.\u00a0 My typical rig would have softened the background\u00a0bokeh to the point that there would have been no detail back there at all.\u00a0 This kind of image appeals to some but others may find the background to be somewhat distracting from the bird.\u00a0 Personally I often\u00a0like the effect because it provides a nice sense of habitat.<\/p>\n It always makes me just a little bit nervous for the safety of the bird when I find a young raptor that is apparently as “tame” as this one – there’s just too many low-brows “out there” who can’t resist shooting at anything that grabs their attention if they think they can get away with it.<\/p>\n Hell, they can’t even resist shooting at road signs…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: In this image the hawk is more centered in the frame than I like but I have no more room on the right.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my experience there’s a huge range in the approachability of juvenile raptors, even among siblings. And overall, Swainson’s Hawks seem to be the most approachable of all. This variability was demonstrated during our trip to Montana’s Centennial Valley last week and once again it made me nervous for the safety of the bird.<\/p>\n