![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/swainsons-hawk-8013-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"swainsons-hawk-8013-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nPlus my first-of-year Swainson’s Hawk. These two hawks brought me two different kinds of excitement.<\/p>\n
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I’ll begin with the Swainson’s since I only got documentary shots of that bird. This species winters in South America so I hadn’t seen a Swainson’s since last fall. I don’t keep lists and I seldom chase rarities so I’m not a typical birder\u00a0but<\/em> my first sighting of a returning migrant is always exciting for me and when it’s a Swainson’s Hawk it’s\u00a0extra-special because of my love of raptors.<\/p>\n As far as I can tell I believe this bird to be the first Swainson’s Hawks reported in Utah this\u00a0spring so I’ll admit it got my heart racing a little when we found it yesterday in late\u00a0morning just west of the Bear River MBR\u00a0Visitor Center.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But at least as exciting (in a different way) was this Ferruginous Hawk I had photographed about four hours earlier in warm light just a few minutes after dawn as it perched on a rustic old fence post (in many areas these kinds of rustic perches are becoming much more difficult to find as they’re replaced by new and ugly metal fence posts). The last Ferruginous I\u00a0photographed had been last\u00a0October and I had lamented\u00a0their scarcity all winter long.<\/p>\n Uncharacteristic of the species this bird allowed a close approach. I believe it was as “sticky” as it was because it was still quite cold (26 degrees F.) and it was mostly interested in warming up in the rising sun.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n The bird provided very little pose variety and it seemed quite sleepy but one time it did do a one-footed rouse although it kept its head down during the process and this in the only shot I got where there was light in the eye.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n The only reason the hawk eventually flew off\u00a0was because a pickup came whizzing by and disturbed its sunbathing. The bird actually flew directly into the path of the speeding pickup and there\u00a0was almost a collision which would have ruined my day and “his”. This photo isn’t as sharp as I’d like but I decided to include it for its look at the underwing plumage.<\/p>\n It was such a delight to finally see\u00a0a good variety of species\u00a0and a large numbers of\u00a0individuals yesterday after such a long, slow winter for birds. Some of the other\u00a0highlights included\u00a0Turkey Vultures,\u00a0Long-billed Curlews, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, American White Pelicans in breeding\u00a0regalia (including that prehistoric-looking carbuncle on their upper bill), both\u00a0Clark’s and Western Grebes and Black-crowned Night\u00a0Herons which have also been scarce this winter. There were others too.<\/p>\n I also spent about an hour and 25 minutes photographing a\u00a0male Marsh Wren constructing\u00a0a nest and I’ll likely post some of those images soon.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Plus my first-of-year Swainson’s Hawk. These two hawks brought me two different kinds of excitement.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ferruginous-hawk-7072-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"ferruginous-hawk-7072-ron-dudley\\"")
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