Two very different looking hawks, of the same species.
May 19, 2017 20:21:39 #
The Swainson's hawk comes in two phases...the dark morph, and the light. Over the past few years, I've seen many of the dark phase, but never the light phase. This spring, at one of the wildlife refuges that I visit frequently, I notice a totally different colored hawk flying with the dark one that I always see. I didn't know what kind of hawk it was at first. I see them together at times, and think they might be a mated pair.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/Lame-Duck/17-0794_Swainsons_hawk_light_fs.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/Lame-Duck/16-Y0036_Swainsons_hawk_dark_morph_fs.jpghttp://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/Lame-Duck/17-0794_Swainsons_hawk_light_fs.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/Lame-Duck/17-0794_Swainsons_hawk_light_fs.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/Lame-Duck/16-Y0036_Swainsons_hawk_dark_morph_fs.jpghttp://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y197/Lame-Duck/17-0794_Swainsons_hawk_light_fs.jpg
May 19, 2017 20:23:17 #
May 19, 2017 20:29:44 #
May 19, 2017 20:46:16 #
May 19, 2017 21:00:42 #
WOW! What dramatic shots of the Swanson's. The dark phase and light phase certainly make them look like two completely different hawks. Excellent shots and patience did finally pay off.
Here in Texas we have the red tail hawk and it has a light phase and a dark phase, I've seen then both and they look a lot like what the Swanson's but of course, bigger. I wonder if all hawks species have different phases. Once again, great shots
Here in Texas we have the red tail hawk and it has a light phase and a dark phase, I've seen then both and they look a lot like what the Swanson's but of course, bigger. I wonder if all hawks species have different phases. Once again, great shots
May 19, 2017 21:02:14 #
Mike, excellent captures and congrats on getting both colors!
Beautiful hawks and love the details on both!!
Beautiful hawks and love the details on both!!
May 19, 2017 21:06:43 #
mas24 wrote:
Two beautiful hawks of the same species. Great shots.
Thank you mas24. I appreciate the nice reply.
May 19, 2017 21:17:08 #
...these are really beautiful birds...nicely done...I like the green leaves and the lighting in the first shot...
May 19, 2017 21:18:30 #
tramsey wrote:
WOW! What dramatic shots of the Swanson's. The d... (show quote)
tramsey, I sure appreciate the generous compliment. Thank you very much. The red-tailed hawk is very common here in California too, and I have also seen both the light and dark morphs. All hawks do not have the light and dark phases. Apparently many of the buteo species apparently do though.
May 19, 2017 21:23:06 #
angela k wrote:
Mike, excellent captures and congrats on getting both colors!
Beautiful hawks and love the details on both!!
Beautiful hawks and love the details on both!!
Angela...Thank you for the generous compliment. All these years I been seeing the dark morph, then all of a sudden this spring I saw the light morph. For a birder like me, that's pretty cool.
May 19, 2017 21:53:14 #
Great captures Mike! Swainson's are one of our most common buteo's this time of year here in Northern Utah. Fortunately, we usually see all three phases, light, intermediate and dark, if we put in the time and miles. No givens though. I really like how you presented these and thanks for sharing. 
May 19, 2017 22:22:55 #
SkyKing wrote:
...these are really beautiful birds...nicely done...I like the green leaves and the lighting in the first shot...
SkyKing...Thank you for the very kind words...much appreciated. The lighting in the first picture was taken early in the morning when I had the "sweet light." With the second shot, the sun was higher up, causing harsher shadows (less attractive light). It took a lot more post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop than did the first photo.
May 19, 2017 22:27:19 #
May 19, 2017 22:34:09 #
jederick wrote:
Great captures Mike! Swainson's are one of our mo... (show quote)
jederick, thank you very much for your very kind remarks. I didn't even know that there were 3 phases. I thought there was just a dark and a light morph. I learned something today...thanks.
Thanks for stopping by and having a look.
May 20, 2017 06:12:40 #
Lame-Duck wrote:
The Swainson's hawk comes in two phases...the dark... (show quote)
Fantastic images!!! great detail
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