{"id":6340,"date":"2012-10-13T06:07:40","date_gmt":"2012-10-13T12:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6340"},"modified":"2024-09-23T04:07:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T09:07:20","slug":"appearing-soon-rough-legged-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/13\/appearing-soon-rough-legged-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Appearing Soon – Rough-legged Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RoughieRough-legged Hawk perched on a mile marker post – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 321mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The temperatures are dropping, the leaves are changing color, mornings are getting frosty and snow is starting to fall in the high country. These things remind me that old Man Winter is about to arrive and along with him the Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus<\/em>)\u00a0will soon appear.<\/p>\n

Last winter was awesome for seeing Rough-legged Hawks and I am hoping they had another great breeding season and that they will show up here in large numbers to over winter. Most of the Rough-legged Hawks I saw and photographed last year were immature, I’d sure like to see more adults this winter.<\/p>\n

The immature hawk above was perched on a mile marker along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>, I sure wish the post had been a natural perch.<\/p>\n

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk – Nikon D300, f9, 1\/800, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Photographing Rough-legged Hawks last winter was so much fun because they were so numerous, some mornings I would see more than 25 in just a couple of hours.<\/p>\n

Will this year bring us as many Rough-legged Hawks to the Salt Lake Valley? That remains to be seen of course but I’ve been hearing reports of them getting closer to arrival.<\/p>\n

I can’t wait!<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last winter was awesome for seeing Rough-legged Hawks and I am hoping they had another great breeding season and that they will show up here in large numbers to over winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134925,"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":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,1022,1087,26],"tags":[2663,4275,2497,4033,4169,2386,4067,4104,153,1648,4081,373],"class_list":["post-6340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-salt-lake-valley","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-mia-mcpherson-8813.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1Eg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110057,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/06\/driftwood-guardian-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":6340,"position":0},"title":"Driftwood Guardian: Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I stopped to take photos of an adult male Rough-legged Hawk perched on a driftwood snag over the Bear River when I was leaving Bear River MBR four days ago.","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":"Adult Rough-legged Hawk perched over the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.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":6340,"position":1},"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, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100107,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/20\/immature-rough-legged-hawk-perched-on-a-tumbleweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":6340,"position":3},"title":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk Perched On A Tumbleweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to spot, point out, and photograph this immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk that was perched on a tumbleweed at Bear River MBR yesterday morning.","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":"Immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk perched on a tumbleweed, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"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":6340,"position":4},"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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