Male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face in spring – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I had a frustrating day yesterday in the field, part of it was because I’d see birds but couldn’t get to them before they took off and that started with a tom Wild Turkey display for four hens next to the road and by the time I was able to get back to where I could photograph them they were moving away from the road and into tall grasses.
The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.
I know that some people think that the desert doesn’t have much “life” or that it all looks the same but after having lived here for nearly ten years I can say that simply isn’t so. Just this frame of a Red-tailed Hawk on a cliff face in the desert shows how much life there is. There is the hawk of course but there are several different species of lichen on the rocks, some sunny yellow wildflowers, grasses, sagebrush, a rabbitbrush and some kind of mat-forming plant I will try to ID later when it is in bloom. Of course there is other “life” in this photo that isn’t visible which may include insects, spiders and invertebrates. Plus this photo only shows a very small area of the whole cliff face, there is so much more to see on it.
Many of the Red-tailed Hawks in the lower elevations of Utah are already incubating eggs so it won’t be all that long before those eggs hatch and they will have hungry chicks to feed and the desert area where this hawk’s family is will provide the food for them to grow.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
So colourful, we just got some snow although it is filtering through the ground and the thirsty grass is turning green.
What a glorious habitat.
Subtle and charming. The red-tail is gorgeous too.
Lovely hawk. I love it out there and right now it is so green, I am anticipating more wildflowers any day now. I know you used to watercolor too, maybe it is the artists eye that loves all the richness of color, any season.
The Red-tailed Hawk looks nice against the background of wild flowers and lichens. They are all working together to give the shot interest.
I was reading about the Great Blue Heron, put my tablet down and lost it. I enjoy watching them wade through the water here in Florida. Seems strange that they have such a range. So this is a double comment! Thanks for sharing.