{"id":54898,"date":"2018-11-06T05:11:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T12:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54898"},"modified":"2026-01-21T13:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T19:58:26","slug":"immature-red-tailed-hawk-at-east-canyon-state-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/06\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-at-east-canyon-state-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk at East Canyon State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk crouching prior to lift off – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent a little time in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday morning looking for birds and I did find a few of them. I was able to photograph two immature Red-tailed Hawks at East Canyon State Park<\/span><\/a> and the photos I am sharing today are of the first one that I found.<\/p>\n

The immature Red-tailed Hawk was using fence posts along the road to perch on to scan the area for prey. At first it was lit up nicely then a cloud came in an darkened the scene then just before it lifted off from the fence post the sun broke through the clouds again. I liked how the young hawk crouched down before it lifted off.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk in flight at East Canyon State Park – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When the immature red tail raised its wings to lift off I clipped the tips of its wings but in the next few frames when it flattened its wings on a down stroke I was able to get this flight pose that I liked and I also appreciated the intense look of the young hawk’s eyes.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk flying towards prey – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Then for a few frames I either had fence posts or fence rails in front of the immature Red-tailed Hawk as it flew towards the prey it had spotted until this frame that showed the entire hawk with its eye on whatever it had spotted. This image is full frame and I’m so glad I didn’t clip the feet and talons when I took this photo.<\/p>\n

The other immature Red-tailed Hawk was on a hillside not too far from where this one was photographed as a crow flies, I may post those photos on another day.<\/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":"

I was able to photograph two immature Red-tailed Hawks at East Canyon State Park and the photos I am sharing today are of the first one that I found.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,6874,150,4594,449,26,773],"tags":[2663,4170,2497,4506,4052,4033,4169,2386,4067,4282,4209,4193],"class_list":["post-54898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-east-canyon-state-park","category-diurnal-raptors","category-morgan-county","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-crouching","tag-flight","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-lift-off","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ehs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107272,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/15\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-with-mountains-in-the-background\/","url_meta":{"origin":54898,"position":0},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk With Mountains In The Background","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My best bird photos from yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA were of an immature Red-tailed Hawk with the shadowed Wasatch Mountain slopes in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk on a nest box in early morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/28\/desert-red-tailed-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":54898,"position":1},"title":"Desert Red-tailed Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was up in far northern Utah looking for birds last week, I took quite a few Red-tailed Hawk photos. I shared one image a few days ago and here are a few more.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk taking off from a cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107504,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/24\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-with-tude\/","url_meta":{"origin":54898,"position":2},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk With ‘Tude","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was up in far northern Utah last week, the first bird I photographed was this immature Red-tailed Hawk that seemed to have a surly attitude about it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Surly looking immature Red-tailed Hawk, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-1421.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97676,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/27\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-perched-in-front-of-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":54898,"position":3},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk Perched In Front Of The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I photograph tons of Red-tailed Hawks. I have shared more Red-tailed Hawk articles on my blog and images in my photo galleries than any other birds species.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk perched in front of the Wasatch Mountains, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-branches-mia-mcpherson-7729.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-branches-mia-mcpherson-7729.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-branches-mia-mcpherson-7729.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2024","format":false,"excerpt":"About two years ago, I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk near the Bear River, on my way out of the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Spring immature Red-tailed Hawk in grasses, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-on-the-ground-mia-mcpherson-5657.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-on-the-ground-mia-mcpherson-5657.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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