Portrait of an immature Red-tailed Hawk on a riverbank – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Yesterday morning I photographed an immature Red-tailed Hawk dining al fresco on the bank of the Bear River on my way back to I-15 to head home. The blue in the background of all of these photos is the Bear River with a crust of ice on it that has started to melt.
I took a few portraits of the striking Red-tailed Hawk.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk with prey on the bank of the Bear River – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I’m lucky that I was able to fit this young Red-tailed Hawk in the frame because it was so close to the edge of the road. Had I been on the right shoulder I probably wouldn’t have had to struggle as much to not clip body parts. This image and the next two photos are all full frame and simply re-sized for web presentation.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk eating prey on the Bear River – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I clipped the tail of the bird in more images than I should have while the young hawk moved around as it ate its prey which I believe was an American Coot.
I was very pleased with the quality of my images of this immature Red-tailed Hawk. Every feather was crisp and sharply in focus.
Young Red-tailed Hawk dining on the bank of the Bear River – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
This first winter Red-tailed Hawk was hungry. It stayed with its prey even though there were three vehicles nearby. The young hawk did seem bothered though by the people in a dark blue Rubicon Jeep that got out of their vehicle. It kept an eye on those two people as it tried to consume its catch.
Back view of a young Red-tailed Hawk on the Bear River – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Had I not seen the dark brown lump on the riverbank where my brain said “that shouldn’t be there” I might not have gotten images of this immature Red-tailed Hawk at all. I wouldn’t have been able to point the hawk out in time. As it was, we stopped closer to the bird than I would have.
Bear River immature Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D500, f9, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
But I did see the hawk and I took several hundred images of it having breakfast on the banks of the Bear River after spending time on the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
As a side note, yesterday morning on the way to the refuge that I said out loud that it felt so spring-like that I half expected to see Sandhill Cranes in the fields. Well, I didn’t see them but I heard two separate flocks of Sandhill Cranes calling. I was very surprised to hear the cranes. In January.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Wow! The power of the stare! It’s almost as if the Hawk is saying, “Back-off folks. I’m having lunch!” Great series. Thanks Mia.
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Super sharp images against the soft blue water background. Nicely done!
Wonderful set, Mia! You have inspired me to get out to Farmington Bay tomorrow.
I am very grateful for your ‘eagle eyes”. Thank you for sharing this beauty.
Many thanks, great images I guess when I hazard a guess it is a hazard! VBG!!
Beautiful images, love em! I’ll ask the same question I asked Ron, is this a dark phase Red-tail?
Dick, this is an immature Western Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis calurus) which tend to be darker than your eastern birds. I did not clearly see the chest on the hawk and without seeing it I’d be hesitant to say if it were a dark morph because the backs of our western red-tails can be very dark and the chest could be lighter.