{"id":61678,"date":"2019-11-25T05:54:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T12:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61678"},"modified":"2024-10-21T03:13:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T08:13:34","slug":"light-morph-rough-legged-hawk-in-the-west-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/25\/light-morph-rough-legged-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Light Morph Rough-legged Hawk In The West Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

I took my first decent Rough-legged Hawk photos for this winter yesterday morning while out wandering around looking for birds to photograph.<\/p>\n

\"LightLight morph Rough-legged Hawk perched on a juniper \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I spotted this hawk from a long distance and wasn’t able to get close to it at all because it was perched on a Utah Juniper that wasn’t at all close to the road but I enjoyed the setting with the hawk perched on a juniper that was loaded with berries and the distant mountains in the background.<\/p>\n

There were only a few junipers nearby which made it easier for me spot him on the juniper and to point him out.<\/p>\n

\"LightLight morph male Rough-legged Hawk lifting off from a juniper \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a stiff breeze blowing and when the light morph Rough-legged Hawk lifted off from the juniper it seemed to me as if he did it in slow motion. I like how the juniper anchors the frame here which gives me and anyone else viewing this photo a hint of the habitat I found him in.<\/p>\n

\"LightLight morph male Rough-legged Hawk flying over a juniper \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

After the second photo above I had a little trouble with focusing and there were two frames of the Rough-legged Hawk that weren’t sharp at all and by the time I locked back on the hawk had started to turn away from me but I thought I would share this photo because of the spread of the wings and tail of the hawk.<\/p>\n

The weather here is changing and I have a week of rain, snow and cloudy skies in the forecast that may keep me grounded for a bit but that may mean some snowy photos of the birds I find closer to home and I am excited about the possibilities.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

There was a stiff breeze blowing and when the light morph Rough-legged Hawk lifted off from the juniper it seemed to me as if he did it in slow motion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135862,"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":[27,1087,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,2663,4275,2497,4052,4122,7017,4033,4169,2386,2691,2670,4062,153,1648,2690],"class_list":["post-61678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-foothills","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-juniperus-osteosperma","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-utah-juniper"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-4572.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-g2O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":140996,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/02\/male-rough-legged-hawk-surveying-the-foothills-of-the-stansbury-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":61678,"position":0},"title":"Male Rough-legged Hawk Surveying The Foothills Of The Stansbury Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been four years since I photographed this gorgeous male Rough-legged Hawk as he surveyed the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains in Utah's West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Rough-legged Hawk in the West Desert of Utah, Tooele County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-fence-post-utah-mia-mcpherson-6308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-fence-post-utah-mia-mcpherson-6308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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The kind where you sit there wondering if you really saw what you saw.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Rough-legged Hawks with prey plus a Common Raven, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/rough-legged-hawks-common-raven-prey-mia-mcpherson-3342.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/rough-legged-hawks-common-raven-prey-mia-mcpherson-3342.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/rough-legged-hawks-common-raven-prey-mia-mcpherson-3342.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/rough-legged-hawks-common-raven-prey-mia-mcpherson-3342.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":61678,"position":3},"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":80204,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/03\/west-desert-male-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":61678,"position":4},"title":"West Desert Male Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning\u00a0 was clear, bright, chilly, and I spent ten minutes photographing an adult male Rough-legged Hawk that I found in the West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Rough-legged Hawk lifting off from a fence post, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-6454.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-6454.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-6454.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-6454.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96216,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/13\/on-the-lookout-for-my-first-of-season-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":61678,"position":5},"title":"On The Lookout For My First Of Season Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I am now on the lookout for my first of season Rough-legged Hawk. I hope to spot one soon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a rock pile, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.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\/61678","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=61678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}