{"id":47833,"date":"2017-07-31T04:47:36","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T10:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47833"},"modified":"2026-01-19T08:07:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:07:35","slug":"juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-rousing-while-lifting-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/31\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-rousing-while-lifting-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Rousing While Lifting Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RousingRousing leap from a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

As a bird photographer who spends enormous amounts of time in the field with my feathered subjects I am able to see avian behaviors that other people don’t see who aren’t focused on birds.<\/p>\n

Of course they probably see things I don’t because my mind is so often zeroed in on birds.<\/p>\n

Two years ago today I went up north not quite to Idaho to look for raptors and other birds to photograph. One has to get up early to be there when the sun rises because it is a long drive but it can be highly productive for raptors there or it can be a flop, you just never know.<\/p>\n

That day except for a surprise Great Horned Owl that I found on the far northern leg of the trip was pretty much a flop.<\/p>\n

On the way home I did spot a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a power pole near Blue Creek Spring and I put my lens on it because I was hoping it would take flight after it finished preening itself on the pole. The scenery there is gorgeous so I didn’t mind waiting to see if the young raptor would take flight.<\/p>\n

When the young Red-tailed Hawk finished preening I thought it would rouse and then take off but it decided to rouse and lift off at the same time…<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk rousing after lift off – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

And the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> was still rousing as it took flight. As I recall I was laughing and taking photos at the same time because it just looked so odd to see it rousing while leaping off of the pole.<\/p>\n

After I took this image the hawk stopped rousing and flew away. You never know what you will see as a bird photographer.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/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":"

On the way home I did spot a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a power pole near Blue Creek Spring and I put my lens on it because I was hoping it would take flight after it finished preening itself on the pole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167205,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,449,26],"tags":[647,2663,4857,4170,2497,4169,2386,4071,1027,5497,4063,5201,4209,3199],"class_list":["post-47833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-behaviors","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-blue-creek-spring","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-juvenile","tag-leaping","tag-pole","tag-raptor","tag-red-tail-hawk","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-rousing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-rousing-leap-mia-mcpherson-1484.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-crv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34670,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/02\/a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-at-blue-creek-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":47833,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk At Blue Creek Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Through the steamy mists of a hot spring I found a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk at Blue Creek Spring in Box Elder County and I hoped to get a few decent images of it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile rousing next to a hot springs, Blue Creek Spring, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-hot-springs-mia-mcpherson-2954.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-hot-springs-mia-mcpherson-2954.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-hot-springs-mia-mcpherson-2954.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-hot-springs-mia-mcpherson-2954.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40531,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/15\/beaverhead-county-red-tailed-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":47833,"position":1},"title":"Beaverhead County Red-tailed Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"These are a few of the Beaverhead County Red-tailed Hawks that I have photographed while on this trip to Montana and Idaho.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk along the South Valley Road, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-miaa-mcpherson-4011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-miaa-mcpherson-4011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-miaa-mcpherson-4011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-miaa-mcpherson-4011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6053,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/05\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-in-landing-pose\/","url_meta":{"origin":47833,"position":2},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk In Landing Pose","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I had fun yesterday photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) as it perched on rocks and hunted for prey. This image shows the Red-tailed coming in for a landing.","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":"Landing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-mia-mcpherson-4237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-mia-mcpherson-4237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-mia-mcpherson-4237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49566,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/25\/wondering-how-the-lone-surviving-red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-is-doing\/","url_meta":{"origin":47833,"position":3},"title":"Wondering How the Lone Surviving Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile Is Doing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been thinking a lot about the lone surviving Red-tailed Hawk from the nest that blew down because of strong winds earlier in June.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk calling to beg for food, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-calling-mia-mcpherson-8251.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-calling-mia-mcpherson-8251.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-calling-mia-mcpherson-8251.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-calling-mia-mcpherson-8251.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17174,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/21\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-in-flight-in-low-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":47833,"position":4},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile In Flight In Low Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I could not resist photographing the young Red-tailed Hawk though as it lifted off and flew in front of me after prey even though conditions were not ideal.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in flight in low light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-1346.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-1346.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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