I can’t be 100% positive that this dark morph Ferruginous Hawk is the same dark morph I photographed on November 17th but due to the relatively low numbers of dark morphs of this species I am fairly certain that it is the same bird.
Dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in early morning light – Nikon D500, f5.6, 1/1000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Also, I photographed this dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in about the same location so this hawk, if it is indeed the same bird, may be sticking around because of prey availability.
When I spotted and pointed out this Ferruginous Hawk yesterday morning it wasn’t hunting, it was resting on a fence post with foothills behind it. This image was taken at a distance where I took a nice series of the dark hawk.
Resting dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in early morning light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
The early morning light looked spectacular on the dark plumage of this Ferruginous Hawk and seemed to make it glow against the distant foothills.
This image was taken after slowly moving towards the resting raptor. There were no signs of the bird being distressed by the vehicle. This is a rather busy road and raptors seem to get used to the presence of vehicles moving up and down the road.
Early morning dark morph Ferruginous Hawk – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
These last three photos were taken after moving towards the dark Ferruginous Hawk at a snail’s pace.
In this photo I can see a little bit of frost clinging to the upper back of the hawk. I’d seen a low of 20°F earlier in the morning so I wasn’t really surprised to see frost on this bird’s feathers especially since the sunlight had probably only started to warm the bird up.
Dark morph Ferruginous Hawk with a bloody bill – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I was able to see that the hawk still had some blood on its bill from its last meal as it rested on top of the wooden fence post.
I photograph birds all the time and there are a few that simply take my breath away and totally mesmerize me, this dark morph Ferruginous Hawk is one of those birds. It mesmerized me so much that I didn’t even think about taking off my teleconverter, I was that deeply immersed in viewing its beauty through my viewfinder.
Dark morph Ferruginous Hawk getting ready to lift off – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I wasn’t fully prepared when the dark morph Ferruginous Hawk finally lifted off without any warning, not even a shake of its feathers. This photo was taken just as it started to lift off, the images I took after this one were lovely but every one of them had a portion of the bird out of the frame because I hadn’t removed my teleconverter. Live and learn.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Ferruginous Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Nice, some real good ones. Wish we had the raptor diversity you have back East!
Great shots of a beautiful raptor ! If I were you I”d go back to the same area every day… like riding a lucky streak. The post is not bad either,
A beautiful hawk set against the early morning light…a truly spectacular group of pics! Thanks Mia.
It’s hard to be 100% sure the bird is the same without shots of it in flight.
Dark morphs make up around 5% of the total population, the percentage is higher in Canada but less than 10%. I think it is the same bird, the feathering seems the same.
Very moody tones. I think I would have thought it another type of bird. The beak is the only give away. I still think they are more of a mini- golden eagle.
Maybe you can do some tight crops of the other photos and highlight parts of this beautiful bird.
He is an absolute beauty. I do hope that you (and Ron) get other chances to a) see him and b) share his magnificence.
Gorgeous photos. What a handsome bird. If it is the same Ferruginous Hawk, I’m glad it has stuck around.