{"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_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":[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":[],"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