Big Red-tailed Hawk lifting off – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I have been trying to photograph this rufous morph Red-tailed Hawk in good light since the first time I spotted her on the 24th of March in northern Utah, yesterday I finally accomplished that goal. This Red-tailed Hawk is big, red, and beautiful. She was perched on some rocks when I first saw her and by the time I could lock on to her she was lifting off from a lichen encrusted rock that had the same rufous red tones as her plumage.
Beautiful Red-tailed Hawk obtaining flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
When I first found her on the 24th of March I suspected that she was nesting near this same area where I found her yesterday and since then I have seen her on the nest a few times while driving south on the road. These photos all show messy feathers on her belly where her brood patch is. Messy perhaps but I can’t tell you how excited I was to photograph her in good light for a change.
I wrote (and complained) about photographing her in poor light here and here.
Big Red – Red-tailed Hawk in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
After the big red Red-tailed Hawk gained altitude yesterday she flew past me to the east, circled and then flew back to the west where I was able to take photos of her with the sky in the background instead of the sage and rabbitbrush covered hillside bit unfortunately I clipped wing tips in almost all of the photos and the one where I didn’t she had closed her nictitating membrane over her eye.
Speaking of eyes… the biting gnats (no-see-ums) were bad yesterday and they tore me up, sucked my blood and spit me back out. I didn’t know until much later in the day how badly they had gotten to me. By late afternoon I could tell I had been bitten by one of the nasty suckers between the bridge of my nose and my right eye because it was crazy itchy in that spot then a while later I noticed swelling on my lower eyelid that got worse before I went to bed. It was bad enough last night but it looks worse this morning. I have a lot to do before Saturday and now I have to do it with a swollen eye. This is the price we bird photographers sometimes pay to follow our passion for taking images of our beloved birds. I sometimes have really odd and/or strong reactions to insect bites.
Maybe I should buy an eye patch from the drug store and pretend to be a pirate who photographs birds for the rest of the week mateys!
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Every pic is a treasure. Love the way you captured the powerful movement of the hawks wings. Thanks Mia.
Thanks so much for sharing all your photos! I really love to see all of the birds feeding their young ones.
What a MAGNIFICENT bird. And shot.
And how I feel for you. Camping with the family as a child one never to be forgotten night my eyelids (both of them) and lip were bitten by mosquitoes in the night. When I woke up again I was effectively blind. Decades later I still remember the misery.
SPECTACULAR!!! I hope these shots sort of make up for the blood-letting — I certainly appreciate all you sacrificed to be able to share these with us. Wowza!
What a BEAUTY! I’m a fool for redtails, but the rufous morphs and Harlan’s really delight my soul! They’re just so outrageously beautiful!
I hope the swelling and itching subsides soon. Oh what a price, but bloodletting is often required to get to the good stuff 😉
Great images of the Red-tailed Hawk—pretty stiff price to pay. We are on the west side (800 W) of Brigham City, near the Bear River refuge, and surprisingly I’ve yet to get even a single mosquito bite this unusual spring.
Those underwings are a work of art we seldom see in such detail! Thanks for sharing!
there’s one thing worse than swollen eyes, it is swollen itchy eyes. i checked out the photos previously taken and while all the photos are good, I see the sheen better in these. What a striking morph! Here’s to a quick recovery, matey!
I feel bad for your eye…but…Great shots!!
Sorry about the eye. I am desperate to get out by myself and photograph, I have been busy with booths and fundraisers for a few weekends now. However your post is giving me second thoughts!
Ooooh, I’ll bet that bite is “itchy-sore”. What wonderful in-flight shots you got though even as you were donating blood, I’ll bet.