{"id":44939,"date":"2017-02-13T05:49:09","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T12:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=44939"},"modified":"2024-02-25T02:04:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T09:04:14","slug":"immature-rough-legged-hawk-with-its-jackrabbit-prey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/13\/immature-rough-legged-hawk-with-its-jackrabbit-prey\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk With Its Jackrabbit Prey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk on a jackrabbit – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

There was sunshine, plenty of much appreciated, glorious sunshine yesterday morning and not a cloud in sight while I spent time looking for and photographing birds in Box Elder County, Utah. It felt marvelous to have the warmth of the sun on my skin and to see that the air was clear and lacked ALL signs of our winter inversions. I could see for miles and miles any direction that I turned my head.<\/p>\n

My best bird of the day was an immature Rough-legged Hawk standing on a jackrabbit in the snow that I spotted next to the road. The jackrabbit was most likely road killed which Rough-legged Hawks will consume. I see road killed rabbits in the area where I found and pointed out this hawk quite often.<\/p>\n

It is not likely that the Rough-legged Hawk took down the jackrabbit itself but I suppose it could happen.\u00a0 Rough-legged Hawks need to eat about 10% of their body weight daily and I am sure this jackrabbit could have helped this young raptor meet that daily requirement easily.<\/p>\n

I was only able to get a few images of this Rough-legged Hawk with my D500 and 500mm lens with the teleconverter attached and this is one of those images. This is full frame and I was barely able to fit the entire bird inside my viewfinder and still had to clip parts of the jackrabbits feet.<\/p>\n

I removed my TC after I had taken 19 shots but the bird took off before I was able to focus on it again. There are times I really wish there was a button on the teleconverter that could turn it off instead of having to manually remove it.<\/p>\n

\"RoadRoad side location of prey – HTC One M8 cell phone image<\/span><\/p>\n

The image above was taken to show the location of the prey from where I photographed the Rough-legged Hawk from the opposite side of the road and east of the prey, the red arrow points to the jackrabbit.<\/p>\n

I was very happy to have frame filling images of this handsome Rough-legged Hawk standing on its prey in the snow and the photos I took of it made my day.<\/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

P.S., after the Rough-legged Hawk took off it landed on a power pole within sight of the jackrabbit so it probably came back to the prey later. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My best bird of the day was a juvenile Rough-legged Hawk standing on a jackrabbit in the snow that I spotted next to the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121861,"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":[27,1148,1087,26],"tags":[2663,2452,4275,4169,2386,4067,2451,2670,11852,153,5657,5300,1648,4050,373,4193],"class_list":["post-44939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-black-tailed-jackrabbit","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-lepus-californicus","tag-light-morph","tag-ranchlands","tag-raptors","tag-road-kill","tag-roadside","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-snow","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-on-rabbit-mia-mcpherson-5465.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bGP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100107,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/20\/immature-rough-legged-hawk-perched-on-a-tumbleweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":44939,"position":0},"title":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk Perched On A Tumbleweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to spot, point out, and photograph this immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk that was perched on a tumbleweed at Bear River MBR yesterday morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk perched on a tumbleweed, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107524,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/25\/rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun\/","url_meta":{"origin":44939,"position":1},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk Season Has Begun","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Rough-legged Hawk season has begun in northern Utah. I spotted my first of season Rough-legged Hawks on the wing last Friday.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a February morning, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108765,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/15\/immature-rough-legged-hawk-staring-prey-and-feaking\/","url_meta":{"origin":44939,"position":2},"title":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk, Staring Prey And Feaking","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing photos of an immature Rough-legged Hawk, its staring prey, of the bird feaking and a bonus image that shows the tongue of the hawk.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk looking at a staring vole, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-prey-mia-mcpherson-5480.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-prey-mia-mcpherson-5480.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-prey-mia-mcpherson-5480.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-prey-mia-mcpherson-5480.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74760,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/19\/on-the-lookout-for-rough-legged-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":44939,"position":3},"title":"On The Lookout For Rough-Legged Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I'll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!","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":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk perched on a snow-covered cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-3435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-3435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-3435.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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