{"id":109503,"date":"2023-01-11T04:31:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T11:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109503"},"modified":"2023-01-11T04:34:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T11:34:48","slug":"rough-legged-hawk-staredown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/11\/rough-legged-hawk-staredown\/","title":{"rendered":"Rough-legged Hawk Staredown"},"content":{"rendered":"

One year ago this morning I was on the road to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> where my best subject of the day was a male light morph Rough-legged Hawk. When I first drove up to the hawk I took a few photos where the distant snow covered mountains showed behind him.<\/p>\n

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk on a cold January morning \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The light was soft and gorgeous which gave the feathers of the Rough-legged Hawk a nice warm glow. This particular hawk is very confiding and cooperative and has been a favorite of mine for several years at the refuge.<\/p>\n

I have only seen this hawk once this winter but that is only because the weather has been very uncooperative and cloudy so far this winter. The sun simply hasn’t been out much at all. We need the moisture but I truly would love to have a few bright winter days in a row. I am craving sunshine.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk staredown \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/500, ISO 250, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I moved my Jeep closer to the light morph Rough-legged Hawk<\/span><\/a> I was able to take a wonderful series of portraits and close up photos of the overwintering arctic raptor.<\/p>\n

I feel very connected to this Rough-legged Hawk because I have photographed him so often over the years. He may not have been staring at me when I took this image but I felt that he was. I wondered then, and still do now, what he was thinking as his beautiful dark eyes looked in my direction.<\/p>\n

Studies have shown that corvids such as crows and ravens remember people and I wonder if this hawk has that ability too. Does he know he is safe with me and that I won’t approach him so closely that I spook him or make him uncomfortable? Only he knows but I hope that he is aware that I am no threat.<\/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":"

One year ago this morning I was on the road to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge where my best subject of the day was a male light morph Rough-legged Hawk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109497,"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":[4004,2663,4275,2497,4142,5795,4033,4169,2386,2670,4062,4094,4069,4104,4046,153,1648,4681,4018,4050,13629,4095,373],"class_list":["post-109503","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-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-close-up","tag-cold","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-sign","tag-sky","tag-snow","tag-staredown","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-stare-down-mia-mcpherson-8178.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sub","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107524,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/25\/rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun\/","url_meta":{"origin":109503,"position":0},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk Season Has Begun","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Rough-legged Hawk season has begun in northern Utah. I spotted my first of season Rough-legged Hawks on the wing last Friday.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a February morning, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100107,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/20\/immature-rough-legged-hawk-perched-on-a-tumbleweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":109503,"position":1},"title":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk Perched On A Tumbleweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to spot, point out, and photograph this immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk that was perched on a tumbleweed at Bear River MBR yesterday morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk perched on a tumbleweed, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139978,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/15\/thinking-back-male-light-morph-rough-legged-hawk-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":109503,"position":2},"title":"Thinking Back: Male Light Morph Rough-legged Hawk Memories","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s February again, and that always brings this male light morph Rough-legged Hawk to my mind.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male light morph Rough-legged Hawk close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rough-legged-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-7518.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rough-legged-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-7518.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rough-legged-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-7518.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rough-legged-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-7518.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119586,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/09\/i-am-missing-this-cooperative-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":109503,"position":3},"title":"I Am Missing This Cooperative Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Once upon a time, and not so long ago, I could count on seeing this light-morph Rough-legged Hawk at a specific area of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge tour route.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Light Morph Rough-legged Hawk male portrait, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8147.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8147.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8147.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8147.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119249,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/19\/rough-legged-hawk-in-dense-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":109503,"position":4},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk In Dense Fog","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Some bird photographers might not share a photo like this Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog that I took two years ago today at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110057,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/06\/driftwood-guardian-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":109503,"position":5},"title":"Driftwood Guardian: Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I stopped to take photos of an adult male Rough-legged Hawk perched on a driftwood snag over the Bear River when I was leaving Bear River MBR four days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Rough-legged Hawk perched over the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.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\/109503","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=109503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}