{"id":140996,"date":"2025-03-02T02:42:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T08:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=140996"},"modified":"2025-10-01T16:43:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T21:43:51","slug":"male-rough-legged-hawk-surveying-the-foothills-of-the-stansbury-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/02\/male-rough-legged-hawk-surveying-the-foothills-of-the-stansbury-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Rough-legged Hawk Surveying The Foothills Of The Stansbury Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been four years since I photographed this gorgeous male Rough-legged Hawk as he surveyed the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains in Utah’s West Desert.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk in the West Desert of Utah<\/span><\/p>\n

Then…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I spotted him from a good distance away and I was happy that he was sticky enough to wait around until was close enough to photograph him.<\/p>\n

The gnarly juniper fence post seemed like the perfect perch for him. There was also some snow on the foothills behind him and the morning light illuminated him nicely.<\/p>\n

I wrote about him the very next day and told the story behind the images I shared that day: West Desert Male Rough-legged Hawk<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

In what I wrote, I said I’d share more photos of him later, and today I’m sharing one more. He was such a beautiful hawk, and the West Desert setting was delightful. Plus, his lift off from that perch was picture perfect.<\/p>\n

And Now..<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I’ve seen Rough-legged Hawks since I moved away from Utah last year, at the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma. I just wasn’t able to take high-quality images of them because they were either too far away or in poor light.<\/p>\n

Just knowing I won\u2019t be entirely missing out on photographing this wandering Arctic-breeding hawk species puts a smile on my face.<\/p>\n

Oh, and the only other North American buteos with feathered legs, Ferruginous Hawks, also show up in that area.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Birds make it even better.<\/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":"

It’s been four years since I photographed this gorgeous male Rough-legged Hawk as he surveyed the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains in Utah’s West Desert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140993,"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":[27,1087,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,4275,2497,4098,898,7017,4033,4169,2670,4062,4099,4069,4104,153,1648,4050,4210,373,8917],"class_list":["post-140996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-desert","tag-fence-post","tag-foothills","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-morning-light","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-snow","tag-stansbury-mountains","tag-winter","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-fence-post-utah-mia-mcpherson-6308.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-AG8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":80204,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/03\/west-desert-male-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":140996,"position":0},"title":"West Desert Male Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning\u00a0 was clear, bright, chilly, and I spent ten minutes photographing an adult male Rough-legged Hawk that I found in the West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Rough-legged Hawk lifting off from a fence post, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-6454.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-6454.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I am now on the lookout for my first of season Rough-legged Hawk. I hope to spot one soon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a rock pile, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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