{"id":105685,"date":"2022-09-11T03:50:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-11T09:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=105685"},"modified":"2023-10-05T04:56:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T10:56:49","slug":"immature-red-tailed-hawk-in-the-west-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/11\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk In The West Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month while I wandered in the West Desert I found an immature Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wooden fence post in the foothills of some sky island mountains.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Red-tailed Hawk looking over West Desert foothills \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Typically I prefer something in the background of my subjects other than plain blue sky. That morning the sky was clear and a lovely blue. I was happy with the background, the weathered perch and the regal pose of the young raptor.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk soaking up morning warmth \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

As I recall it was already hot by the time I spotted this young Red-tailed Hawk. It was nearly 10 a.m. in the morning. I thought it might have dropped its wings because of the heat. I know I was already hot and wishing that I felt cooler. Less dusty too.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Red-tailed Hawk preening a single feather \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 400, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The immature hawk was simply getting ready to preen its feathers and I was ready to photograph it preening. I selected this photo to share because I liked the look at the eye of the hawk. The young raptor grasping just one feather in its hooked bill was the sprinkles on my cupcake.<\/p>\n

Bonus immature Red-tailed Hawk photo:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk in a sunlit juniper \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Much earlier in the morning I took photos of another young Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> on my way up the foothills. The light was beautiful and I couldn’t and didn’t want to resist taking images of the young buteo. I’m delighted that I listened to my instincts.<\/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":"

Last month while I wandered in the West Desert I found an immature Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wooden fence post in the foothills of some sky island mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,449,358,26,1314],"tags":[4170,2497,4608,898,7017,4033,4169,4067,3914,4674,2691,6865,4378,4104,4019,153,4209,4018,10452,13209,2315,4055,30,2690,11845,4088,8917,4193],"class_list":["post-105685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-feather","tag-fence-post","tag-foothills","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-immature","tag-juniper","tag-junipers","tag-juniperus-osteosperma","tag-looking","tag-morning","tag-perched","tag-preening-2","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-sky","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-soaking-up","tag-summer-3","tag-tooele-county","tag-utah-2","tag-utah-juniper","tag-warmth","tag-west-desert","tag-wooden-post","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-post-mia-mcpherson-2322.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ruB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":94980,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/13\/cooperative-west-desert-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":105685,"position":0},"title":"Cooperative West Desert Red-tailed Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I photographed a very cooperative adult Red-tailed Hawk that was next to a road in the West Desert of Utah on a smoky morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk adult looking over its shoulder from a juniper, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-on-juniper-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0857.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-on-juniper-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0857.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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perched on a White Fir, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-white-fir-mia-mcpherson-1419.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"October 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My favorite of the hawks I photographed in the West Desert yesterday was this adult Red-tailed Hawk on a fence post waiting for the morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk waiting for the morning light, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-before-dawns-light-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-before-dawns-light-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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