{"id":13448,"date":"2014-01-15T03:00:05","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=13448"},"modified":"2026-01-15T07:35:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:35:15","slug":"a-red-tailed-hawk-on-a-winter-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/15\/a-red-tailed-hawk-on-a-winter-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-tailed Hawk On A Winter Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-tailedRed-tailed Hawk immediately after lift off – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 350mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The sun was shining yesterday. Hooray!\u00a0\u00a0I actually saw<\/em> and photographed<\/em> some birds. Yippee! One of the birds I photographed yesterday was this handsome Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted in a tree at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.<\/p>\n

I didn’t have much time to get ready for when the hawk lifted off from the tree because of road traffic, just two test shots to check for exposure and the Red-tailed took flight.<\/p>\n

I like this image because it shows that trademark red tail, the hawk’s talons, the patagial mark on the leading edge of the wing and a great look at the hawk’s eye.<\/p>\n

\"Red-tailedRed-tailed Hawk on a winter day – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +1.3 EV,\u00a0 Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

After the first lift off the Red-tail headed for a post, then perched on top of a kestrel nest box where the kestrel dive-bombed it several times before the kestrel gave up.<\/p>\n

The Red-tailed Hawk then dove at some prey in the grasses and devoured it in two gulps, unfortunately there was vegetation in the way so I didn’t get any clear shots of that action.<\/p>\n

The hawk then lifted off from the snow-covered ground and flew back to the nest box before it finally flew towards the north.<\/p>\n

It felt good to have birds close enough in my viewfinder again. It has been a long, dry spell and photographing a Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> on a winter day made me happy.<\/p>\n

Life is <\/em>good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click 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":"

One of the birds I photographed yesterday was this handsome Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted in a tree at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166835,"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":[27,697,449,26],"tags":[2663,4170,3981,1124,4052,4122,4033,4169,4282,153,5130,4209,4018,4050,373,5499],"class_list":["post-13448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-davis-county","tag-field","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-lift-off","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-sky","tag-snow","tag-winter","tag-wintry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-flight-pose-mia-mcpherson-4739.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3uU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108353,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/28\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-head-on-stare\/","url_meta":{"origin":13448,"position":0},"title":"Immature 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Background","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My best bird photos from yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA were of an immature Red-tailed Hawk with the shadowed Wasatch Mountain slopes in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk on a nest box in early morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk at Farmington Bay WMA that lifted off from a metal post and flew over the marsh.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from a metal pole, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7633.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7633.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7633.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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