{"id":119586,"date":"2024-01-09T05:41:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T12:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119586"},"modified":"2025-02-15T02:54:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T08:54:19","slug":"i-am-missing-this-cooperative-rough-legged-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/09\/i-am-missing-this-cooperative-rough-legged-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"I Am Missing This Cooperative Rough-legged Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/span><\/a> tour route.<\/p>\n

\"LightLight Morph Rough-legged Hawk male portrait \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

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I believe I started photographing this hawk during the fall of 2015. He was almost always in the same area of the north section of the auto tour route, and he was usually a very cooperative bird. Quite a few other photographers took images of him too and shared them on social media.<\/p>\n

He seemed to spend the night on one of the signs on the north side of the road. There were many times that I would find him covered with frost on that sign, so much frost that it appeared to prove he roosted on that sign during the long, bitter cold winter nights.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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With a slow, careful approach in my Jeep, I could get close enough to this Rough-legged Hawk to take portraits without causing him to take off. I took portraits of him in soft morning light and in a snowstorm one year.<\/p>\n

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When I was alone, I often talked to this hawk as I photographed him. Sometimes, he would look right at me as I spoke to him. I’d look into his beautiful dark eyes and wonder what he was thinking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I also spent time wondering what this wandering raptor saw during his travels, from his Arctic breeding grounds to this one specific spot in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

Because I photographed him over several years, I felt very connected to this Rough-legged Hawk. It isn’t often that I feel that way about my feathered subjects, not often at all. Usually, I don’t see the same birds week after week, let alone for years.<\/p>\n

The last time I felt that way was when I followed and photographed an American Oystercatcher family<\/span><\/a> at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida for several months. I grew attached to those birds as I watched their chicks grow up.<\/p>\n

Typically, when I was finished taking my photos of this hawk, he was still on the sign. When I would start my Jeep and leave, I’d always tell him thanks before I drove up the road. I both adored and admired him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I thought I saw this Rough-legged Hawk once at the start of last winter but now I believe that I might have simply seen another Roughie in the same general area.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because I never saw this Rough-legged Hawk perched on his favorite sign last winter, and I haven’t seen him this winter either.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what happened to this Rough-legged Hawk.<\/p>\n

What I do know is that I miss him now.<\/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<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119583,"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":[4004,2663,4275,2497,4142,1030,4033,4169,2386,2670,4062,4094,8768,4046,153,1648,4018,4095,373],"class_list":["post-119586","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-dawn","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-missing","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-sky","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8147.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-v6O","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":119586,"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. 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