{"id":6771,"date":"2012-12-12T05:28:24","date_gmt":"2012-12-12T12:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6771"},"modified":"2025-12-26T12:42:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T18:42:46","slug":"hatch-year-red-tailed-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/12\/hatch-year-red-tailed-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Hatch Year Red-tailed Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk with an eye on the sky – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VT with 1.4x TC at 264mm, natural light, not baited, called in or set up<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I met up with Becka on Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> to show her the location where I spotted yet another escaped falconry bird, a female American Kestrel.<\/p>\n

I’ll write more about the kestrel later.<\/p>\n

I left for the island later than normal because the light had been awful when I would usually head that way. The light was still bad when I reached the island but there was some clearing to the west of it so there was at least a possibility that there would be enough to get take some images of birds or animals.<\/p>\n

After I showed Becka where I found the escaped American Kestrel we drove around looking for her and other raptors south of the Frary Peak turn off.<\/p>\n

On our way back north I spotted this immature Red-tailed Hawk high up on the rocks on a perch many birds have used as seen by the copious amounts of white-wash. When we drove up the juvenile Red-tail stayed calm as we passed it on the one lane road to get past it for a good light angle.<\/p>\n

I certainly didn’t need ISO 1000 to photograph this young hawk, that was a setting I used earlier when the light was low. The hawk didn’t stay long, I only took 8 images of it before it lifted off facing away from us and then less than a minute later we saw it flying low to the ground below us with prey in its bill\u00a0where it\u00a0landed to dine on the vole it had captured.<\/p>\n

I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August, that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.<\/p>\n

A lot of people cheer for their favorite team or sports star, me; I’m cheering these young and amazing raptors on!<\/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 recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166155,"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":[27,1022,449,26],"tags":[58,4021,4083,4170,4033,4067,4071,519,4035,4063,4209,4470,102,4032],"class_list":["post-6771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-antelope-island-sp","tag-bird-photography","tag-birding","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-hawk","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-nature","tag-nature-photography","tag-raptor","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-rocks","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3964.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1Ld","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/30\/fighting-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":0},"title":"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I wonder if these two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks will hang around for the winter, I sure hope so.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk juveniles, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7585,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/21\/a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-fly-by\/","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":1},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Fly By","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a simple juvenile Red-tailed Hawk this morning that I took last year on Antelope Island State Park as it flew past me with the dark Farmington complex rocks in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile flying past, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5235.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5235.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5235.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5235.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7476,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-adults\/","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":2},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Adults","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a few Red-tailed Hawk images that I have been meaning to process and share.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of adult Red-tailed Hawks, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6208,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/30\/red-tailed-hawk-delight\/","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":3},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Delight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I had another great day with juvenile Red-tailed Hawks on Antelope Island State Park last week.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk slowing down prior to landing, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7546.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7546.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7546.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7546.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6577,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/14\/northern-harrier-chasing-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":4},"title":"Northern Harrier Chasing A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This image of a Northern Harrier and a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in an aerial dogfight over Antelope Island State Park was taken the day before the recent snow storm started that we had here in the Salt Lake Valley over the weekend.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Harrier chasing a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-7123.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9605,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/27\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":5},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the Red-tailed Hawk juveniles I photographed on Antelope Island last year has \"migrated\" to Switzerland where my photo of it will be featured on a 5 x 15 meter billboard for a yacht company.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile flying on an autumn day, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.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\/6771","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=6771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}