{"id":108469,"date":"2022-12-04T05:11:57","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T12:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=108469"},"modified":"2023-12-25T04:00:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T11:00:32","slug":"immature-red-tailed-hawk-in-a-safety-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/04\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-in-a-safety-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk In A Safety Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

About two years ago, I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk resting above a safety zone sign at Farmington Bay WMA on a cold morning.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk resting in a safety zone \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The red and white safety zone sign may not be appealing to some people’s sense of taste, but the young raptor was perched above it, so it didn’t bother me. I was happy to have spotted the hawk, for being able to point it out in time, and for having it in my view finder.<\/p>\n

I was close though and I knew that if the Red-tailed Hawk took to the air I’d run the risk of clipping wing tips. So I took off my 1.4x teleconverter which gave me an effective focal length of 750mm instead of 1050mm.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Harrier dive bombing an immature Red-tailed Hawk \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m very glad I removed my teleconverter because of the next thing that happened. A Northern Harrier flew in and dive bombed the perched young Red-tailed Hawk. The immature buteo went into defensive mode and lifted its wings while staring at the harrier.<\/p>\n

I wish I would have had a bit more depth of field in this frame to get both raptors in sharp focus but the appearance of the harrier was unexpected. There simply wasn’t time to change my settings.<\/p>\n

My focus was on the immature Red-tailed Hawk and the face of that bird says it all to me. When I look at this photo I can almost imagine the young hawk saying “Dude, can’t ya read? This is a safety zone!” to the intruding Northern Harrier. And yes, that makes me laugh.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk in a safety zone \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The defensive posture of the immature Red-tailed Hawk did seem to convince the Northern Harrier from carrying out a repeat attack because it flew away. Not long after the dive bombing harrier took off the young Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> lifted off and left the safety zone.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure why I never processed these photos before but I thought today was as good a time as any for them to be shared.<\/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<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About two years ago, I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk resting above a safety zone sign at Farmington Bay WMA on a cold morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108459,"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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1022,697,348,449,26],"tags":[970,2663,4170,2497,765,13499,4478,6844,4620,4052,4122,2783,3164,4033,4169,2386,4067,4094,13498,4104,4394,153,4209,4156,13497,4681,4095,8917,4193],"class_list":["post-108469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-harriers","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-defensive-mode","tag-dive","tag-dive-bombing","tag-fall","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-marsh","tag-nothern-harrier","tag-perched","tag-post","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-resting","tag-safety-zone","tag-sign","tag-wetlands","tag-wooden-post","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-safety-zone-mia-mcpherson-0191.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sdv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75711,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/04\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-harassed-by-a-northern-harrier\/","url_meta":{"origin":108469,"position":0},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk Harassed By A Northern Harrier","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I found an immature Red-tailed Hawk in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday and spent 28 minutes photographing it including when a Northern Harrier harassed it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk after a Northern Harrier flew over, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7624.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-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7624.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7624.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7624.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107272,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/15\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-with-mountains-in-the-background\/","url_meta":{"origin":108469,"position":1},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk With Mountains In The Background","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My best bird photos from yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA were of an immature Red-tailed Hawk with the shadowed Wasatch Mountain slopes in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk on a nest box in early morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.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-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6577,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/14\/northern-harrier-chasing-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":108469,"position":2},"title":"Northern Harrier Chasing A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This image of a Northern Harrier and a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in an aerial dogfight over Antelope Island State Park was taken the day before the recent snow storm started that we had here in the Salt Lake Valley over the weekend.","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":"Northern Harrier chasing a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119320,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/25\/christmas-day-young-northern-harrier-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":108469,"position":3},"title":"Christmas Day Young Northern Harrier On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On this Christmas morning, I am sharing a photo of a young female Northern Harrier in flight that I took exactly three years ago at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Day young Northern Harrier, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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immature Red-tailed Hawk, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.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-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/28\/desert-red-tailed-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":108469,"position":5},"title":"Desert Red-tailed Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was up in far northern Utah looking for birds last week, I took quite a few Red-tailed Hawk photos. 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