{"id":10019,"date":"2013-10-29T06:27:14","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T12:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=10019"},"modified":"2026-04-15T12:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:16:36","slug":"red-tailed-hawk-perched-above-elk-lake-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/29\/red-tailed-hawk-perched-above-elk-lake-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-tailed Hawk perched above Elk Lake, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-tailedRed-tailed Hawk perched above Elk Lake, Montana – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/80, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This past September I spotted an adult Red-tailed Hawk perched high on a rocky canyon wall as it looked out over the cold waters of Elk Lake in Beaverhead County, Montana.<\/p>\n

Sharing the location of the hawk on the canyon wall?<\/p>\n

Not. Easy. Not easy at all.<\/p>\n

The light wasn’t great but by focusing on the hawk and avoiding having the bright sky in my frame I was able to get a nice exposure that didn’t have blown whites and one where fine detail shows in the dark plumage of the hawk.<\/p>\n

I could have easily passed up taking this image because of the lighting challenges but I am glad I didn’t because I actually\u00a0enjoy the textures\u00a0 and shapes contained in this rocky setting and the pose of the Red-tailed Hawk.<\/p>\n

As I processed this file I noticed that there is\u00a0a cone from some type of conifer by the feet of this hawk. The cone may have been entangled in the hawks plumage from another location because there weren’t any coniferous trees in that general area.<\/p>\n

I didn’t see the Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> fly off though so I can’t be sure that it was stuck to the hawk. One of nature’s mysteries I suppose.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past September I spotted an adult Red-tailed Hawk perched high on a rocky canyon wall as it looked out over the cold waters of Elk Lake in Beaverhead County, Montana. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,608,449],"tags":[4004,4021,2663,4170,3940,5131,2375,4033,4169,2237,4104,153,4209],"class_list":["post-10019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-red-tailed-hawks","tag-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-canyon","tag-cliff","tag-elk-lake","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-montana","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-5479.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2BB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5429,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/31\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-from-the-north-side-of-the-centennial-valley-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":10019,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk from the north side of the Centennial Valley, Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On my mid-July journey to southwestern Montana it seemed like there were juvenile hawks every where I looked, the east and west side of the Centennial Valley and the south and north sides too.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on an old fence rail, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, 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Hawk images that I have been meaning to process and share.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of adult Red-tailed Hawks, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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June 22nd while leaving southwestern Montana to head back to Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk with wings spread, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4860.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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On this last trip that finally happened!","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Red-tailed Hawk \u2013 I waited for this!, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5986,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/24\/fun-with-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":10019,"position":5},"title":"Fun With A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was away in Montana for eight days starting last week I had a fantastic time photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvie Red-tailed Hawk right after lift off, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}