More Photos Of The Rufous Red-tailed Hawk Female

Female Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree in front of a cliff – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 800, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

I felt lucky to find this rufous Red-tailed Hawk female again yesterday morning in good light because last year she was hard to photograph mostly due to clouds and low light. This Red-tailed Hawk may have spent the night perched on this lichen covered tree branch but I can’t be 100% certain of that.

Pointing her out was relatively easy.

Rufous Red-tailed Hawk female wing lift – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 800, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

She is a big, beautiful hawk and I feel privileged to photograph her whenever I have the opportunity but I must admit I prefer it when the light is good because then her coloration really seems to glow.

Female Red-tailed Hawk in front of a cliff – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited

I took my teleconverter off and took some photos because I thought she might fly after she lifted her wings and defecated.

Rufous Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from a branch – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited

I’m really glad I did because she did lift her wings…

Female Red-tailed Hawk flying in front of a cliff face – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited

And took flight. If I had left my teleconverter on I may have clipped her wing tips in this frame…

Female Red-tailed Hawk in a hurry – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/5000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited

And this frame too. Even without the teleconverter on it can be challenging to track this hawk while she is in flight and maintain focus.

One serious looking female Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/5000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited

I’d say the struggle is worth it though.

Her lighter colored mate did make an appearance yesterday but I didn’t get any photos of him that were as nice as the photos of her because he either was too far away or too close.

Rufous Red-tailed Hawk female flying south – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited

I liked this photo because of her flight pose, the position of her wings, the intense look in her eye and because some fresh green grasses that are growing on the cliff face show in the upper left section of the frame.

Rufous Red-tailed Hawk female at the moment of lift off – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

In this frame because I like how her wings are nearly fully extended above her body just as she was about to lift off from her lichen covered perch.

Female Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from a cliff – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

And the very next frame shows her in flight along with her shadow on the the lichen covered rock she had been perched on just fractions of a second before.

Her tail is a bit of a mess, she is missing a tail feather and one that is still attached is damaged but in this photo I can see where new tail feathers coming in.

Female rufous Red-tailed Hawk in front of sagebrush – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

I had a great time photographing this beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning and I’m glad I had good light when I did.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.