{"id":12635,"date":"2014-01-04T05:49:46","date_gmt":"2014-01-04T12:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=12635"},"modified":"2026-01-04T16:04:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:04:44","slug":"red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-in-low-light-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-in-low-light-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile In Low Light Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-166373 size-full\" title=\"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in low light conditions, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390.jpg\" alt=\"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in low light conditions, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"659\" data-id=\"12634\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27659%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20659%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27659%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390-200x155.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390-400x310.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390-600x465.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390-768x595.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in low light conditions &#8211; Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 314mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In the winter I shoot a lot in fog, smog and low light conditions here in northern Utah but if you follow my blog you probably already know that and have heard me mention it a time or two (or four or a hundred).<\/p>\n<p>While I would prefer the sweet golden light of dawn or the warm tones found in the setting sun sometimes I just have to make do with what light I have.<\/p>\n<p>The juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was photographed a few days before Christmas when the light was low, there was plenty of snow on the ground, there was fog hanging in the air and the occasional snowflakes were falling down.<\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Red-tailed_Hawk\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> juvenile has been hanging out at Farmington Bay for some time now so perhaps if I cross my fingers, do a sun dance, carry a lucky penny, rub Buddha&#8217;s belly, burn some sage, and blow out some birthday candles (doesn&#8217;t matter whose cake it is, right?) I will get to photograph it in decent light.<\/p>\n<p>My queendom for some sunshine! (And birds at the same time)<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/red-tailed-hawk-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the winter I shoot a lot in fog, smog and low light conditions here in northern Utah but if you follow my blog you probably already know that and have heard me mention it a time or two (or four or a hundred). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1022,697,449,26],"tags":[2663,4170,4052,4122,4033,4169,2386,4067,4071,156,153,4050,4328,373],"class_list":["post-12635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-low-light-2","tag-raptors","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-fly-by-mia-mcpherson-1390.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3hN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17174,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/21\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-in-flight-in-low-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":12635,"position":0},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile In Flight In Low Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I could not resist photographing the young Red-tailed Hawk though as it lifted off and flew in front of me after prey even though conditions were not ideal.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in flight in low light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-1346.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-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-1346.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-1346.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-1346.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44114,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/26\/first-year-red-tailed-hawk-close-up-in-a-snow-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":12635,"position":1},"title":"First Year Red-tailed Hawk Close Up In A Snow Storm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This first year Red-tailed Hawk close up in the snow storm was a reminder of how much our birds and wildlife have to struggle to get through the harsh winter.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First year Red-tailed Hawk close up, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7647.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-juvenile-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7647.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7647.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16214,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/20\/juvenile-dark-morph-harlans-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":12635,"position":2},"title":"Juvenile Dark Morph Harlan&#8217;s Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Harlan's Hawks are a subspecies of Red-tailed Hawks that breed in Alaska and northern Canada and spend their winters in the northern Great Plains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Coots&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile dark morph Harlan\u2019s Hawk, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-harlans-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3760.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/30\/fighting-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":12635,"position":3},"title":"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I wonder if these two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks will hang around for the winter, I sure hope so.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk juveniles, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9805,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/16\/a-dark-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":12635,"position":4},"title":"Dark Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Quite often I don't have much time at all to get ready to take images because you need to get close to the subject, find a good angle of light and make sure your camera settings will produce the best image for the conditions.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in flight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-dark-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-dark-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-dark-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9792.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-dark-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9792.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34670,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/02\/a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-at-blue-creek-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":12635,"position":5},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk At Blue Creek Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Through the steamy mists of a hot spring I found a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk at Blue Creek Spring in Box Elder County and I hoped to get a few decent images of it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile rousing next to a hot springs, Blue Creek Spring, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-hot-springs-mia-mcpherson-2954.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-hot-springs-mia-mcpherson-2954.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12635","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=12635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}