![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/swainsons-hawk-9701-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"swainsons-hawk-9701-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAn intermediate morph and a light morph.<\/p>\n
I photographed both birds three years ago but it’s that time of year for Swainson’s Hawks to show up again so they’ve been on my mind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This bird, an intermediate morph, was hunting fearlessly from a very old fence post near the road even as the occasional vehicle whizzed by. I’m drawn to “his” alert pose in particular. But when his search for prey proved fruitless for an extended period his demeanor transformed from alert to…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n extremely relaxed as he began to preen his tail.<\/p>\n Typically when raptors do this they close their transparent nictitating membrane to protect their eye but this bird chose to close his actual eyelid instead. His almost white eyelid contrasts strongly with the surrounding darker plumage around his eye which reminded me of magpies flashing their white membranes for purposes of communication.<\/p>\n I actually find the effect interesting. He kept his eyelid closed for an extended period while he groomed his tail – long enough for me to get many photos that show the white eyelid closed (no, that eye wasn’t injured).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n And this much different looking bird is a light morph Swainson’s Hawk, photographed several weeks later in the same general area. In contrast to the previous hawk I actually know this bird to be a male because he was paired up and I photographed him mating.<\/p>\n I like this photo for its natural setting and varying colors in the bird, background and perch. And I think the partial sidelight contributes to the appeal of the image although I do wish we could see his tail and wingtips.<\/p>\n Swainson’s Hawks migrate annually between their breeding grounds in North America and their wintering areas in the pampas of South America, Argentina in particular. They migrate in flocks than can be as large as 10,000 birds and the round trip exceeds 12,000 miles,\u00a0a distance second among raptors only to the migration distance of the Arctic Peregrine Falcon. Since they’re gone from northern Utah for over six months I always look forward to their return with great anticipation.<\/p>\n Knowing what’s going on in South America these days maybe they left a little early this year…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An intermediate morph and a light morph.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/swainsons-hawk-9913-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"swainsons-hawk-9913-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/swainsons-hawk-9010b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n