{"id":107524,"date":"2022-10-25T04:58:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T10:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=107524"},"modified":"2022-10-25T05:10:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T11:10:41","slug":"rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/25\/rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun\/","title":{"rendered":"Rough-legged Hawk Season Has Begun"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rough-legged Hawk season has begun in northern Utah. I spotted my first of season Rough-legged Hawks on the wing last Friday way up in the far northern part of the state.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk with a light frost \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 400, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn’t able to take photos of the adult dark morph or the immature light morph Rough-legged Hawks I found on Friday because they were on the wrong side of the good light. I shouted a “Welcome back you beautiful birds” to both of them.<\/p>\n

Anyone but another passionate bird lover hearing me might have thought I was insane. Maybe I am.<\/p>\n

Insanely happy to see these arctic hawks again.<\/p>\n

A cold front including rain and snow over the weekend most likely ushered in more of the Rough-legged Hawks that will spend the winter here. Just thinking about spending time with and photographing these buteos again excites me.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a February morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Rough-legged Hawks come in light, intermediate, and dark morphs. I see light morphs frequently, dark morphs on occasion, and for me, intermediate morphs are far less common.<\/p>\n

I photographed the light morph adult male Rough-legged Hawk in both of these images at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> this past February. The close up photo I took on my birthday and the other image was taken three days later.<\/p>\n

This particular hawk shows up in the same area of the refuge about this time of the year. I hope he returns this winter. If he does I know for certain that I will celebrate his return and thank him for making the long journey back to his winter home. He is a bit of a celebrity with local bird photographers. I am a huge fan of this bird.<\/p>\n

As soon as the weather clears up I will be out in the field looking for these stunning raptors.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Rough-legged Hawk season has begun in northern Utah. I spotted my first of season Rough-legged Hawks on the wing last Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,1087,26],"tags":[4004,5180,2663,4275,2497,4142,3983,4033,4169,2386,2670,4062,4094,4104,4046,153,13409,1648,4095,373],"class_list":["post-107524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-back-view","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-close-up","tag-frost","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-refuge-information-sign","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t