{"id":3699,"date":"2011-11-20T15:15:13","date_gmt":"2011-11-20T22:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2025-09-29T07:12:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T12:12:45","slug":"more-rough-legged-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/20\/more-rough-legged-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"More Rough-legged Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk in flight\u00a0–\u00a0 Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/2500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Since my last post about Rough-legged Hawks I have been able to find and photograph more of these handsome raptors. The Rough-legged Hawk above made a close fly by and I was able to get several images of it as it did so.<\/p>\n

At first I thought it was a gull when it was at a distance but I soon realized it was a Rough-legged Hawk and paced my shots so that my buffer would not fill up.<\/p>\n

\"Close\u00a0Close fly by from a Rough-legged Hawk – Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/2500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The wingspan on Rough-legged Hawks is larger than I realized at 53 inches. The Rough-legged Hawks I have seen recently have beautiful colors, from dark chocolate browns, creamy butterscotch to pale creams.<\/p>\n

I have read that these hawks are silent except for when they are on their breeding grounds, I can say I’ve never heard one make a sound here in Utah.<\/p>\n

Rough-legged Hawks hover when they are hunting prey, it is really a wonderful sight to see. They also seem to “plummet” when they are descending on their prey by partially closing the wings, it is quite different from a dive or a stoop.<\/p>\n

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk lift off from an ugly perch –\u00a0 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 325mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t have the best of light when I photographed the Rough-legged Hawk above and the bird’s tail feathers and rump were damp which caused those to be a touch ratty looking.<\/p>\n

But I sure liked the wing position in this shot. I hope to get another lift off series where a Roughie is on a natural or more appealing perch.<\/p>\n

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk perched on an old fence post – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days later I was able to photographed this Rough-legged Hawk while it sat on a fence post. My Exposure compensation was up a bit too high because I’d been photographing this hawk in the sky before it landed but I was able to bring the exposure down in post processing so that the whites weren’t blown out.<\/p>\n

After the hawk left this perch it dropped down on the ground not far from the post and I took some would-have-been wonderful frame filling\u00a0shots of it on the ground\u00a0except for the fence that was between the bird and I.<\/p>\n

Being a bird photographer can be frustrating that way.<\/p>\n

\"Rough-legged\u00a0Rough-legged Hawk in flight with the Stansbury Mountains in the background\u00a0 –\u00a0 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 228mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed this Rough-legged Hawk two days ago while in Tooele County looking for raptors to photograph, it had landed in a field close by. I zoomed back so that I could get a lift off shot without clipping the wings.<\/p>\n

Perhaps I zoomed back just a little too much, but I’m very fond of images that show birds in their natural habitat and this one does that quite well.<\/p>\n

I have been very pleased to add so many images of Rough-legged Hawks<\/span><\/a> to my portfolio in just the past week and hopefully these hawks will stick around until late February of next year so there will be many more opportunities.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been very pleased to add so many images of Rough-legged Hawks to my portfolio in just the past week and hopefully these Roughies will stick around until late February of next year so there will be many more opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158446,"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":[511,27,1022,1087,358,26],"tags":[2663,4275,2497,11978,4052,4169,4067,4282,2670,4069,1107,4104,153,1648,4210,4193],"class_list":["post-3699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-desert-island","tag-flight","tag-hawks","tag-immature","tag-lift-off","tag-light-morph","tag-mountains","tag-natural-habitat","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-stansbury-mountains","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-0201.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-XF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7542,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/17\/rough-legged-hawks-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3699,"position":0},"title":"Rough-legged Hawks On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This year hasn't provided me with as many opportunities to photograph Rough-legged Hawks as last winter did and before long these raptors will be heading to the high Arctic to find mates on their breeding grounds.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"High Key Rough-legged Hawk lift off from sign, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-high-key-mia-mcpherson-1661.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-high-key-mia-mcpherson-1661.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-high-key-mia-mcpherson-1661.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4535,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/26\/rough-legged-hawks-is-it-time-to-say-goodbye\/","url_meta":{"origin":3699,"position":1},"title":"Rough-legged Hawks – Is It Time To Say Goodbye?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have had such amazing experiences with Rough-legged Hawks this winter. I've captured them in flight, preening, eating, hovering, kiting, resting and so much more.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rough-legged Hawk with tail spread while preening, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-preening-mia-mcpherson-1544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-preening-mia-mcpherson-1544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-preening-mia-mcpherson-1544.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"November 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I woke up to a fine layer of snow on the ground this morning and silly as it may sound that gets me excited for the birds that over winter in the Salt Lake Valley such as this Rough-legged Hawk.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dorsal view of a Rough-legged Hawk in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-dorsal-view-mia-mcpherson-7244.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-dorsal-view-mia-mcpherson-7244.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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