{"id":110057,"date":"2023-02-06T05:01:35","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T12:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110057"},"modified":"2023-02-06T05:01:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T12:01:35","slug":"driftwood-guardian-rough-legged-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/06\/driftwood-guardian-rough-legged-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Driftwood Guardian: Rough-legged Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/span><\/a> four days ago.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Rough-legged Hawk perched over the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/5000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the Rough-legged Hawk wasn’t close, I liked the unique setting, the weathered driftwood, and the hawk’s head angle. There was some ground fog in the background that seemed to soften the ranchlands north of the perched, overwintering raptor. Through my viewfinder I could still see some frost on the driftwood snag sparkling in the sunlight.<\/p>\n

In my imagination, the Rough-legged Hawk appeared to be guarding the driftwood snag, though I couldn’t say for certain why.<\/p>\n

I haven’t gotten the photos I have wanted of the Rough-legged Hawks that have wandered down to northern Utah from their arctic nesting grounds to overwinter this year. The weeks and weeks of gray, leaden clouds have caused me to stay home more often than I usually do during typical winters here. I’m relieved that we are getting the snow that we need to help with our drought. There simply haven’t been very many bright days to head out into the field this winter at all.<\/p>\n

It won’t be long before the Rough-legged Hawks that have overwintered in northern Utah will take wing to head to their breeding grounds. I hope to spend more time with them before they go.<\/p>\n

A large percentage of the Rough-legged Hawks that I have found this winter have been very skittish and have taken flight before I get to them. The hawk in this photo wasn’t skittish but it was on the other side of the river which is why he is small in the frame.<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110054,"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":[124,27,1148,1087,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4275,2497,1996,368,4033,4169,2386,4062,4104,11852,153,5558,1648,8453,4050,4095,373],"class_list":["post-110057","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-driftwood","tag-frosty","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-ranchlands","tag-raptors","tag-river","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-snag","tag-snow","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sD7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75556,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/27\/focusing-on-adult-male-rough-legged-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":110057,"position":0},"title":"Focusing On Adult Male Rough-legged Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Ten days ago I found and photographed this adult male Rough-legged Hawk as it perched on a Russian Olive tree at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when I was heading home.","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 Rough-legged Hawk perched in a Russian Olive tree, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-light-morph-mia-mcpherson-4908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-light-morph-mia-mcpherson-4908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-light-morph-mia-mcpherson-4908.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-light-morph-mia-mcpherson-4908.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74760,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/19\/on-the-lookout-for-rough-legged-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":110057,"position":1},"title":"On The Lookout For Rough-Legged Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I'll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!","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":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk perched on a snow-covered cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-3435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-3435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-3435.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"December 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The first great opportunity I had with them this year was this male Rough-legged Hawk perched on a stump at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge in Box Elder County.","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 Rough-legged Hawk looking down at the marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-male-mia-mcpherson-8124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-male-mia-mcpherson-8124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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