{"id":119249,"date":"2023-12-19T05:04:38","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T12:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119249"},"modified":"2023-12-19T05:04:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T12:04:38","slug":"rough-legged-hawk-in-dense-fog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/19\/rough-legged-hawk-in-dense-fog\/","title":{"rendered":"Rough-legged Hawk In Dense Fog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some bird photographers might not share a photo like this Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog that I took two years ago today at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/bear-river-migratory-bird\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-119246 size-full\" title=\"Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog at Bear River MBR\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg\" alt=\"Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Some of those photographers may not have even turned their cameras on to take a photo like this one.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who has followed my adventures into the field here at On The Wing Photography knows: I&#8217;m not one of those photographers.<\/p>\n<p>For me, taking an image like this one shows the harsh conditions my favorite subjects endure here in northern Utah during the winter. The dense fog, frigid temperatures, snow, and frost are all part of their lives. Birds have it rough here during the coldest months of the year.<\/p>\n<p>I feel and believe that it is important to show that with my photos, at times.<\/p>\n<p>So far this winter, we haven&#8217;t had much snow down in the valleys \u2013 certainly not like we had last winter. Maybe last year&#8217;s record-breaking snowfall was simply a fluke.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rough-legged_buzzard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Rough-legged Hawks<\/span><\/a> migrate here from their breeding grounds high in the arctic tundra and taiga of northern Canada and Alaska. They are also found across the pond in Europe and Russia, where they are called Rough-legged Buzzards.<\/p>\n<p>The wide open land at Bear River MBR is the kind of habitat where these hawks can be found in during the winter in northern Utah.<\/p>\n<p>I haven&#8217;t seen many Rough-legged Hawks so far this season, but it really hasn&#8217;t been all that cold yet. It is supposed to be in the low 50s for the next few days. Maybe January will bring colder temps and Rough-legged Hawks.<\/p>\n<p>We shall see.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/rough-legged-hawk-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">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":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119246,"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":[4004,970,2663,4275,9106,4620,4175,3984,3983,4033,4169,2386,4094,4104,4063,1648,4050,4095],"class_list":["post-119249","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-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-dense","tag-fall","tag-fog","tag-foggy","tag-frost","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-raptor","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-snow","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-v1n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110057,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/06\/driftwood-guardian-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":119249,"position":0},"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 &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":[]},{"id":107524,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/25\/rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun\/","url_meta":{"origin":119249,"position":1},"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 &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":60201,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/14\/rough-legged-hawk-on-a-snowy-day-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":119249,"position":2},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk On A Snowy Day At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't see or photograph as many Rough-legged Hawks last winter as I have in previous years but I did have a close up, extraordinary experience with one who was expelling a pellet on a snowy, foggy day at Bear River MBR.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Low light Rough-legged Hawk with wide open beak, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-throwing-pellet-mia-mcpherson-5164.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-throwing-pellet-mia-mcpherson-5164.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-throwing-pellet-mia-mcpherson-5164.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-throwing-pellet-mia-mcpherson-5164.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99774,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/10\/yawning-immature-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":119249,"position":3},"title":"Yawning Immature Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the same immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk that I shared portraits of two days ago that were taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Yawning immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk with nictitating membrane inset, 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-yawning-inset-mia-mcpherson-7041.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-yawning-inset-mia-mcpherson-7041.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-yawning-inset-mia-mcpherson-7041.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-yawning-inset-mia-mcpherson-7041.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99683,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/05\/light-morph-male-rough-legged-hawk-winter-site-fidelity\/","url_meta":{"origin":119249,"position":4},"title":"Light Morph Male Rough-legged Hawk Winter Site Fidelity","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been photographing a light morph male Rough-legged Hawk on or near a One Way sign at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge frequently this winter.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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 adult male with dark clouds in the background, 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-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-5308.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-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-5308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-5308.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-5308.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":119249,"position":5},"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 &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119249","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=119249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}