![\"swainson's](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/swainsons-hawk-1096-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"swainson's")
<\/p>\nThis bird was one of the early migrants into Utah in the first week of April\u00a0this year.\u00a0 Swainson’s Hawks winter in South America, which means they funnel through narrow Central America as they migrate each way.\u00a0 To give you an idea of how many birds that involves, 845,000 of them have been counted as they passed\u00a0over Veracruz, Mexico in a single autumn.\u00a0 Incredible!<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I found this bird in a remote area of Box Elder County, hunting from power poles.\u00a0 One of the reasons I like this image is because it’s fairly unusual for me to get a raptor in full flight (instead of just after taking off, note the position of the feet) when it’s not soaring or gliding with its wings in a horizontal position.<\/p>\n I’m always interested when I can get images that contrast the ventral and dorsal colors and plumage patterns of the same species in flight.\u00a0\u00a0Swainson’s Hawks are quite dark dorsally.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n But when you can get good light\u00a0in the ventral view, the contrast is\u00a0striking.\u00a0\u00a0 Even though these two images were taken 34 minutes apart, I’m relatively certain that it’s the same bird in both shots.<\/p>\n This hawk was\u00a0coming to land on a power pole and even though the flight position screams for a perch in front of\u00a0the bird, I took the liberty of cloning out the ugly pole and wire (something I don’t often do).<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This bird was one of the early migrants into Utah in the first week of April\u00a0this year.\u00a0 Swainson’s Hawks winter in South America, which means they funnel through narrow Central America as they migrate each way.\u00a0 To give you an idea of how many birds that involves, 845,000 of them have been counted as they passed\u00a0over Veracruz, Mexico in a single autumn.\u00a0 Incredible! \u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in I found this bird in a remote area of Box Elder County, hunting from power poles.\u00a0 One of the reasons I like this image is because it’s fairly unusual for me to get a raptor in full flight (instead of just after taking off, note the position of the feet) when it’s not soaring or gliding with its wings in a horizontal position. I’m always interested when I can get images that contrast the ventral and dorsal colors and plumage patterns of the same species in flight.\u00a0\u00a0Swainson’s Hawks are quite dark dorsally. \u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, natural light, not baited, set up or called in But when you can get good light\u00a0in the ventral view, the contrast is\u00a0striking.\u00a0\u00a0 Even though these two images were taken 34 minutes apart, I’m relatively certain that it’s the same bird in both shots. This hawk was\u00a0coming to land on a power pole and even though the flight position screams for a perch in front of\u00a0the bird, I took the liberty of cloning out the ugly pole…<\/p>\n![\"swainson's](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/swainsons-hawk-1013-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"swainson's")
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