{"id":18148,"date":"2014-12-25T14:04:56","date_gmt":"2014-12-25T21:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=18148"},"modified":"2026-01-15T15:16:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T21:16:56","slug":"a-christmas-day-snow-storm-and-a-red-tailed-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/25\/a-christmas-day-snow-storm-and-a-red-tailed-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Day Snow Storm And A Red-tailed Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ChristmasChristmas Day snow storm and a Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/5000, ISO 2500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited.<\/span><\/p>\n

I did wake up this Christmas morning to snow-covered ground so I got my wish for a white Christmas. The other events that made my day perfect were talking to my mom, my sons, and being out in the field photographing birds on Christmas morning, a tradition for me. I simply couldn’t be any happier.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of my time in the field this morning I spotted a gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk in a tree at quite a distance. I kept thinking “I wish the bird were closer” because it was so far away. It was snowing hard at the time and even though the hawk was way out I photographed it as the snow blew around the bird and also around me. Still, I kept thinking that I wished it were closer.<\/p>\n

Then I noticed the hawk getting ready to lift off and as it did I fired my shutter not really expecting anything worth keeping. The light was low, the snow was blowing, I had bumped my ISO up to 2500 which is pretty high, and I figured I’d look at the frames and be disappointed.<\/p>\n

That was until I pulled this frame up on my monitor at home.<\/p>\n

I love the mood it conveys, the falling snow, the trees in the distant background, and the pose of the hawk. For me it couldn’t be any more perfect.<\/p>\n

And you know what? I’m glad the Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> wasn’t any closer or I would have missed out on exactly<\/em> this image that I will always remember was created on this Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

Life is amazing.<\/p>\n

Happy Holidays everyone.<\/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":"

I’m glad the hawk wasn’t any closer or I would have missed out on exactly this image that I will always remember was created on this Christmas Day. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166907,"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":[4004,2663,4170,2497,6301,3981,4052,4122,4033,4169,2386,153,4209,4050,4509],"class_list":["post-18148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-christmas","tag-davis-county","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-snow","tag-snow-storm"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7454.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4II","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18153,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/26\/perched-red-tailed-hawk-in-a-snow-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":18148,"position":0},"title":"Perched Red-tailed Hawk in a snow storm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk has been hanging around Farmington Bay for a couple of months now much to the delight of many photographers and myself.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Red-tailed Hawk in a snow storm, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7445.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-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7445.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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