![\"swainson's](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/swainsons-hawk-5003-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI believe Swainson’s Hawks are the most vocal buteos I’ve photographed.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I photographed this young bird just over three months ago in Montana’s Centennial Valley as it honed its grasshopper hunting skills along a rustic fence line.\u00a0 One of its parents was always in the vicinity, apparently watching the progress of the youngster and the two birds would call out to each other often.\u00a0 I find this to be typical behavior for the species.\u00a0 The birds were not alarmed, but simply communicating.<\/p>\n Notice the position of the catch light in the eye – it’s at the very\u00a0top of the cornea, which with the birds head level as it is indicates that the sun was very high in the sky.\u00a0 The image was taken at 1:37 in the afternoon.\u00a0 I seldom shoot at this time of day because the light is harsher and catch lights more difficult to get.\u00a0\u00a0With the heavy brow ridge of a raptor I was lucky to get any\u00a0light in the eye at all.<\/p>\n It was a stormy and threatening afternoon and I like how the bird is lit up against the dark and foreboding upper background.\u00a0 The calling pose and gusty breezes that mussed some of the birds feathers add to the appeal of the image for me and I like the detail and sharpness of the hawk.<\/p>\n I’ve posted a lot of snowy\u00a0photos lately so this morning I thought I’d go with a “warmer” image for a change of pace.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I believe Swainson’s Hawks are the most vocal buteos I’ve photographed.<\/p>\n