{"id":4336,"date":"2012-02-08T10:35:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T17:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4336"},"modified":"2026-02-02T09:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:33:25","slug":"ferruginous-hawk-in-tooele-county-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/08\/ferruginous-hawk-in-tooele-county-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferruginous Hawk in Tooele County, Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ferruginous Ferruginous Hawk lifting its wings on an old fence post –\u00a0 Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in November I had the opportunity to photograph this Ferruginous Hawk in the West Desert of Utah. The hawk was very wary so I was unable to make as close of an approach as I would have liked.<\/p>\n

The day was hazy and slightly overcast from some high thin clouds. I really didn’t have the best of conditions but that never seems to keep me from testing my skills.<\/p>\n

The Ferruginous Hawk was perched on an old fence post that had a lot of character because it was weather worn and it wasn’t a manufactured post. In the photo above the hawk was lifting its wings not to take flight but to stretch them.<\/p>\n

\"FerruginousFerruginous Hawk getting its balance on an old fence post –\u00a0 Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

After the wing lift the hawk had a bit of a time getting balanced on the post again so it fluttered its wings as its feet gripped the uneven surface of the post. I had a nice view of the rusty colored feathered legs.<\/p>\n

They remind me of old fashioned jodhpurs that horseback riders used to wear which were very loose at the thigh and tight around the lower legs.<\/p>\n

\"FerruginousFerruginous Hawk pushing off from an old fence post –\u00a0 Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

There aren’t many people in the west desert of Utah thus the raptors and other birds that live there are not habituated to people so they are very skittish even when using a mobile blind. In less than a minute after gaining its balance on the old fence post this regal raptor decided to lift off and fly out over the grassy, sagebrush covered plain to the east.<\/p>\n

I love the quiet found in the west desert, the whispering of the grasses in a slight breeze, and the wide open skies.<\/p>\n

\"Ferruginous Ferruginous Hawk lifting off from an old fence post –\u00a0<\/strong> Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When\u00a0the Ferruginous Hawk first lifted off it had its face turned slightly away from me but it did give me this one final image that had a nice look at its eye and a wonderful view of those beautifully colored feathered legs.<\/p>\n

I wish the light had been a bit better that day but Ferruginous Hawks<\/span><\/a> are year round residents here so I’ll just look for more opportunities to photograph the handsome hawks.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ferruginous Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There aren’t many people in the west desert of Utah thus the raptors and other birds that live there are not habituated to people so they are very skittish even when using a mobile blind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95583,"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":[27,1069,358,26],"tags":[4004,970,11031,2663,4268,2497,4098,4620,2414,898,2092,4052,4122,4033,4169,2386,4282,2670,4104,4018,4055,30,4088,4135],"class_list":["post-4336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-ferruginous-hawks","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-balanced","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-regalis","tag-buteos","tag-desert","tag-fall","tag-feathered-legs","tag-fence-post","tag-ferruginous-hawk","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-lift-off","tag-light-morph","tag-perched","tag-sky","tag-tooele-county","tag-utah-2","tag-west-desert","tag-wing-lift"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-lift-off-flight-mia-mcpherson-7323.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-17W","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118517,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/24\/dark-morph-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":4336,"position":0},"title":"Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Four years ago today, I found this gorgeous dark morph Ferruginous Hawk perched on a juniper fence post in the West Desert. I spotted it from about a mile away.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lifting off dark morph Ferruginous Hawk, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4399.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4399.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/23\/immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-december\/","url_meta":{"origin":4336,"position":2},"title":"Immature Ferruginous Hawk In December","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was overjoyed to see an immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk in my viewfinder four years ago in December while I was out in Utah's West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Light morph Ferruginous Hawk with its eyes on the clouds, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3627,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/07\/ferruginous-hawk-a-regal-raptor\/","url_meta":{"origin":4336,"position":3},"title":"Ferruginous Hawk – A Regal Raptor","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America, the \"regalis\" in the latin name means \"kingly\" or \"regal\" and I have to agree with those descriptions.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ferruginous Hawk in flight pano, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-pano-6836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-pano-6836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-pano-6836.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-pano-6836.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96592,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/22\/ferruginous-hawk-in-the-changing-light-of-dawn\/","url_meta":{"origin":4336,"position":4},"title":"Ferruginous Hawk In The Changing Light Of Dawn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird photos that I took yesterday morning in the desert were of a Ferruginous Hawk perched on a fence post in pre-dawn light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ferruginous Hawk on a fence post at sun rise, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-dawn-light-mia-mcpherson-1676.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-dawn-light-mia-mcpherson-1676.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-dawn-light-mia-mcpherson-1676.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-dawn-light-mia-mcpherson-1676.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55313,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/16\/winter-ferruginous-hawk-lift-off-and-flight-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":4336,"position":5},"title":"Winter Ferruginous Hawk Lift Off And Flight Series","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to photograph two Ferruginous Hawks yesterday morning in the West Desert in Tooele County. The light was good, I had birds in my viewfinder and I was away from our building inversion so I was one happy woman.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ferruginous Hawk in flight in front of snow covered mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-flight-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4336","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=4336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}