{"id":26876,"date":"2014-09-28T06:25:50","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T12:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=26876"},"modified":"2014-09-28T07:08:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-28T13:08:46","slug":"swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/","title":{"rendered":"Swainson’s Hawk Face-plant Into Rabbitbrush"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes raptors risk serious injury as they go after prey – especially to their eyes.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: this post is only meant to document behavior.\u00a0 I’m sure you’ll be as disappointed as I was that I lost critical focus on several of these images.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26877\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272542","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5023 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26877\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5023 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5023-ron-dudley-400x285.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On my Montana camping trip earlier this month I spent a lot of time with this juvenile Swainson’s hawk.\u00a0 The clouds had moved in so the light was poor when the bird left its fence post perch and landed on the gravel road as it pursued grasshoppers.\u00a0 Here it has spotted something (though I didn’t know it yet) in a rabbitbrush perhaps 100′ away near the fence line.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26878\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,699\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272543","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5025 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley-300x233.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26878\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5025 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"699\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley-300x233.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley-150x116.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5025-ron-dudley-400x310.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When the hawk first took off I assumed it was going back to perch on one of the fence posts but it had another goal in mind.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26879\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,657\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272543","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5027 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley-300x219.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26879\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5027 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley-150x109.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5027-ron-dudley-400x292.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It gained only a couple of feet of altitude to clear the taller grass near the road…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26880\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272543","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5031 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26880\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5031 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5031-ron-dudley-400x285.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And then leveled out at speed.\u00a0 It was about at this point that I realized the bird\u00a0might have mayhem rather than a perch\u00a0in mind.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26881\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,682\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272544","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5038 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley-300x227.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26881\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5038 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley-300x227.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley-400x303.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It went straight for this rabbitbrush and only flared to slightly slow its speed at the very last moment.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26882\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,719\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272544","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5039 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley-300x239.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26882\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5039 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"719\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley-300x239.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley-150x119.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5039-ron-dudley-400x319.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As luck would have it I began to lose focus as the hawk plunged into the plant, apparently after another grasshopper.\u00a0 The position of its grasping right foot strongly suggests to me that it definitely has a particular prey item in mind, though I never did see it.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26883\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,737\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272544","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5040 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley-300x245.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26883\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5040 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley-300x245.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley-150x122.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5040-ron-dudley-400x327.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The bird still had considerable speed when it did a face-plant into the bush.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26884\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,697\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272545","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5041 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley-300x232.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26884\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5041 ron dudley\" width=\"900\" height=\"697\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley-150x116.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5041-ron-dudley-400x309.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A split second later I acquired focus again, just as the hawk fell away from the dead portion of the rabbitbrush…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"26885\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"848,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1410272551","copyright":"","focal_length":"500","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"swainson’s hawk 5044 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley-282x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-26885\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"swainson's hawk 5044 ron dudley\" width=\"848\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley.jpg 848w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley-282x300.jpg 282w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley-141x150.jpg 141w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5044-ron-dudley-400x424.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 848px) 100vw, 848px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>apparently sans prey.\u00a0 A few moments later the hawk flew off to the right with empty talons (I believe).<\/p>\n<p>Every time I look at this series I think of some of my earlier posts about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/20\/bald-eagle-nictitating-membrane\/\" target=\"_blank\">nictitating membranes<\/a> and the heavy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/21\/yet-another-reason-for-photographing-raptors-when-the-sun-is-low\/\" target=\"_blank\">brow ridges <\/a>of raptors.\u00a0 Both structures are meant to protect the eye and this series of images reinforces for me their value as these birds go into harms way in\u00a0pursuit of prey.<\/p>\n<p>The thought of my own face going into those stiff, pointy twigs at speed makes me cringe.<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n<p><em>Addendum:\u00a0 most images here were taken at 1\/1000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, using my 500mm without the tc.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes raptors risk serious injury as they go after prey – especially to their eyes.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/swainsons-hawk-face-plant-into-rabbitbrush\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[334,392,1493,360,645],"tags":[647,555,1716,146,824,190,220,256,499,263,646],"class_list":["post-26876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-birds","category-feeding-bird-behaviors","category-montana-favorite-locations","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge-favorite-locations","category-swainsons-hawks","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-centennial-valley","tag-eye-injury","tag-flight","tag-grasshopper","tag-juvenile","tag-montana-2","tag-prey","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/swainsons-hawk-5038-ron-dudley.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-6Zu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}