![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/swainsons-hawk-0350-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"swainsons-hawk-0350-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this light morph Swainson’s Hawk three days ago in northern Utah (it’s actually the same bird I posted<\/a> a few days ago in a diagonal takeoff). It was\u00a0tame and relaxed as I tried to pass\u00a0it very close to the road so I stopped and brought out my “baby lens” because it was so close and I thought I might be able to get some takeoff shots. But it just stood there on\u00a0one leg and watched me watching it.<\/p>\n In these situations I’m always extremely attentive to any subtle hints that suggest the bird might be about to\u00a0take off or do something else interesting (fast reflexes are essential)\u00a0and soon I noticed a\u00a0slight change in its behavior.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 340mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n It put the other foot down, turned slightly toward me, and seemed to stare intently at something over my right shoulder (actually over the hood of my pickup). I presumed that it had spotted potential prey on the other side of the road behind me and might take off in that direction.<\/p>\n But that isn’t what happened.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 340mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Instead of taking off the hawk…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 330mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n stayed on the fence post and raised its wings and flared its tail in a defensive posture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 330mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Naturally, when the wings went mostly vertical I cut off one of them and clipped the other.<\/p>\n This all happened so fast I had no idea what had occurred except that the hawk had reacted to something<\/em> that had threatened it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 330mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n And that something turned out to be a male Northern Harrier whose talons came within just a few inches of the perched hawk. I never did actually see the harrier (although Mia did) and this partial foot and a wing tip is all I caught of the harrier in any of my photos.<\/p>\n Here the hawk has mostly closed its nictitating membrane to protect its eye.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n