{"id":45511,"date":"2017-03-12T05:51:35","date_gmt":"2017-03-12T11:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=45511"},"modified":"2025-05-25T08:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T13:58:16","slug":"coopers-hawk-takes-flight-in-northern-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/12\/coopers-hawk-takes-flight-in-northern-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper’s Hawk Takes Flight in Northern Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk perched on a lichen covered boulder – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent the morning in Box Elder County in northern Utah looking for birds to photograph, I was hoping to find a first of the year Swainson’s Hawk or Turkey Vulture or perhaps even find the Golden Eagle pair I found earlier this month.<\/p>\n

I didn’t see them but I did find Red-tailed Hawks, a few Rough-legged Hawks, one juvenile Bald Eagle, Prairie Falcons, American Kestrels and one Cooper’s Hawk.<\/p>\n

Cooper’s Hawks are forest and woodland birds that have adapted well to urban and suburban areas and they are also found in desert areas of the southwest. The road I was on has smatterings of small trees next to it that attract smaller songbirds and the Cooper’s Hawk diet consists of those small birds.<\/p>\n

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk stretching – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first saw this Cooper’s Hawk it had taken flight from the east side of the road and landed in a tree that was snugged up close to a cliff face but was hidden from view, when the hawk took off from the tree it landed on a lichen covered boulder that was on a rocky outcrop on the west side of the road in beautiful light. I was able to take several images of the Cooper’s as it perched and stretched on the boulder.<\/p>\n

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk in flight in northern Utah – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cooper’s Hawk took flight without much warning at all and for a second I lost it while tracking the hawk but regained focus as it flew south past me. The background in this frame shows lichen covered rocks and some sagebrush.<\/p>\n

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk fly by – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The hawk continued flying south after the image above was taken and although I couldn’t relocate it I was happy to have been able to get these images of it in flight. It was a beautiful morning.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Cooper\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cooper’s Hawk took flight without much warning at all and for a second I lost it while tracking the hawk but regained focus as it flew south past me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1148,5715,26],"tags":[10402,5397,4004,5717,2663,4138,5716,4098,4052,4122,4033,4169,2386,3291,4104,153],"class_list":["post-45511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-coopers-hawks","category-utah","tag-accipiter","tag-accipiters","tag-adult","tag-astur-cooperii","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-boulder","tag-coopers-hawk","tag-desert","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-lichen","tag-perched","tag-raptors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t