{"id":61145,"date":"2019-11-02T05:47:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-02T11:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61145"},"modified":"2025-11-02T05:28:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T11:28:48","slug":"early-morning-immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/02\/early-morning-immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Morning Immature Ferruginous Hawk In The West Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EarlyEarly morning immature Ferruginous Hawk – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t get the Brown Creeper photos I have been dreaming of yesterday but I did take lovely images of an immature Ferruginous Hawk in early morning, golden light.<\/p>\n

The hawk was perched on a new juniper fence post when I first spotted it and pointed it out.<\/p>\n

Since the temp was so cold the young bird of prey seemed sticky enough to take a nice series of photos. It even seemed to be curious about the vehicle parked on the road.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Ferruginous Hawk landing on a fence post – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

But another car came along and flushed the young Ferruginous Hawk. It didn’t fly far though, just down to the next wooden fence post. I photographed it as it landed with the mountains in the background.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Ferruginous Hawk tilting its head – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

After the young raptor landed on the second fence post it settled back down and seemed to relax in the warmth of the rising sun.<\/p>\n

The immature Ferruginous Hawk tilted its head quite often, just like young Burrowing Owls do when they are parallaxing.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Ferruginous Hawk with its bill wide open – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When the immature Ferruginous opened its bill like this I thought perhaps it was getting ready to expel a pellet. They sure can open their bills wide.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Ferruginous Hawk preening on a fence post – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

For a bit the immature Ferruginous Hawk preened its feathers but still kept an eye on what was going on around it. After it finished preening it roused…<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Ferruginous Hawk letting poop fly – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

And then let some poop fly.<\/p>\n

I missed the shots of the young Ferruginous Hawk<\/span><\/a> lifting off because when I turned around to see if there were any cars coming up the gravel road the young buteo took flight.<\/p>\n

I was excited to spot a late Hermit Thrush yesterday morning high up in the Stansbury Mountains and I was even able to take some photos of it while it was out in the open and I took a few with a Brown Creeper in the background. Photos to come at a later date.<\/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":"

I didn’t get the Brown Creeper photos I have been dreaming of yesterday but I did take lovely images of an immature Ferruginous Hawk in early morning, golden light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95407,"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":[27,1069,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[970,5552,4268,2497,4098,6692,4620,898,2092,7017,4169,6306,4067,4123,2670,6733,4375,4019,153,7910,7909,8917,4193],"class_list":["post-61145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-ferruginous-hawks","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-autumn","tag-bill","tag-buteo-regalis","tag-buteos","tag-desert","tag-early-morning-light","tag-fall","tag-fence-post","tag-ferruginous-hawk","tag-foothills","tag-hawks","tag-head","tag-immature","tag-landing","tag-light-morph","tag-open","tag-poop","tag-preening-2","tag-raptors","tag-tilting","tag-wide","tag-wooden-post","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-with-attitude-mia-mcpherson-7438.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fUd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/23\/immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-december\/","url_meta":{"origin":61145,"position":0},"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":118517,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/24\/dark-morph-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":61145,"position":1},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74604,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/12\/west-desert-ferruginous-hawks-light-and-dark-morphs\/","url_meta":{"origin":61145,"position":2},"title":"West Desert Ferruginous Hawks – Light And Dark Morphs","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The past couple of weeks on some of my journeys to the West Desert of Utah I have been able to have a few long distance views of Ferruginous Hawks and that has me excited.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rousing immature Ferruginous Hawk on a fence post in the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-light-morph-immature-rousing-mia-mcpherson-7500.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-light-morph-immature-rousing-mia-mcpherson-7500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-light-morph-immature-rousing-mia-mcpherson-7500.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-light-morph-immature-rousing-mia-mcpherson-7500.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108170,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/21\/west-desert-dark-morph-ferruginous-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":61145,"position":3},"title":"West Desert Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly three years have passed since I found, pointed out, and photographed this stunning dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in the West Desert of Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark morph Ferruginous Hawk lifting one foot, West Desert, Tooele County, 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":75090,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/04\/an-immature-light-morph-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":61145,"position":4},"title":"An Immature Light Morph Ferruginous Hawk In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The highlight of my morning yesterday was when I spotted an immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk perched on a cedar post in the West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Ferruginous Hawk flying towards me, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0626.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0626.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0626.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-0626.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":95313,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/22\/immature-light-morph-ferruginous-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":61145,"position":5},"title":"Immature Light Morph Ferruginous Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday on the last full day of summer I found a couple of hawks in the West Desert including this immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk lifting off, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5385.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-immature-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5385.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5385.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-immature-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-5385.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\/61145","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=61145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}