Immature Light Morph Ferruginous Hawk

Young Ferruginous Hawk on the ground – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

Yesterday on the last full day of summer I found a couple of hawks in the West Desert including this immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk. When I first saw this young raptor it was on the wrong side of the road and in poor light. As it lifted off I watched it fly towards the west and land on a fence post about three to four football fields away. The immature hawk was on the hunt and before I could get close to it again it lifted off and flew after prey. It missed that prey. This image shows it on the ground after that hunting attempt.

Immature Ferruginous Hawk flying towards the north – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

The young Ferruginous Hawk lifted off from the ground and flew north towards a fence post where it landed and could scan the area for prey.

Immature Ferruginous Hawk looking for prey – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

The tall wooden fence posts allow the raptors that perch on them an elevated, unobstructed 360° view of the thousands of acres of habitat around them.

Young light morph Ferruginous Hawk lifting off from a post – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

When the young light morph Ferruginous Hawk spotted something that caught their eye it lifted off from the wooden post and flew towards the south.

Immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk lifting off – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

The distant mountain slopes covered in grasses and junipers made for an interesting background in these photos which worked well with the dynamic flight pose of the immature Ferruginous Hawk. This photo also shows the feathered legs of this species well.

Young Ferruginous Hawk flying low over a desert – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

This last image doesn’t show the feathered tarsi of this young hawk but it does show the concentration and focus that these hawks have when they have prey in their sight.

After this series of images were taken the young hawk missed the prey and flew back to land on a fence post again. About that time a noisy truck and horse trailer passed by and flushed the hawk from its perch. The young hawk flew to the northwest and I believe it captured prey on that attempt because I could see that it stayed on the ground for a long period of time.

I also found an adult light morph Ferruginous Hawk earlier in the morning. I will share some of those photos another day.

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Life is good.

Mia

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