{"id":98244,"date":"2021-12-17T05:27:06","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T12:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=98244"},"modified":"2021-12-17T05:29:36","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T12:29:36","slug":"male-rough-legged-hawk-on-a-national-wildlife-refuge-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/17\/male-rough-legged-hawk-on-a-national-wildlife-refuge-sign\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Rough-legged Hawk On A National Wildlife Refuge Sign"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk on a National Wildlife Refuge sign \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/250, ISO 1600, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Nine days ago this Rough-legged Hawk resting on a National Wildlife sign in low light was the first hawk I spotted and photographed.<\/p>\n

I know that some bird photographers wouldn’t have bothered to stop and photograph this hawk because the lighting conditions weren’t great. One might even say that the lighting conditions were crappy but I like to test my skills in all kinds of light and I also know my camera can handle low light situations. Sometimes I like the results and sometimes I don’t. It is built into my nature to try to take the best images I can whether the light is poor or wonderful.<\/p>\n

The first photos I took of this Rough-legged Hawk I didn’t care for but that was my mistake because I hadn’t yet adjusted my exposure enough for the raptor to be properly exposed. After fine tuning my exposure settings I was able to take a few images of this adult male Rough-legged Hawk that I liked well enough to keep and share.<\/p>\n

I found about half a dozen Rough-legged Hawks that morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and while the rest of them were in much better light I liked the moodiness that the low light created in this image so much that I wanted to share it this morning.<\/p>\n

I don’t always want or need to have perfect light when I am out in the field. Some of my favorite images in my galleries were taken in less than optimal conditions.<\/p>\n

Tip of the day: Don’t pass up an opportunity to photograph a bird or animal just because of low light.<\/p>\n

I’m glad I took the photos that I did of the Rough-legged Hawk despite the less than optimal lighting conditions that I had.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Nine days ago this Rough-legged Hawk resting on a National Wildlife sign in low light was the first hawk I spotted and photographed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98240,"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":[124,27,1148,1087,26],"tags":[4004,970,2663,4275,2497,4620,4033,4169,2386,1123,156,4062,7577,4104,153,1648,4681],"class_list":["post-98244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-fall","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-high-key-2","tag-low-light-2","tag-male","tag-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-sign"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-sign-mia-mcpherson-8743.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pyA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107524,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/25\/rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun\/","url_meta":{"origin":98244,"position":0},"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. 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2023","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago this morning I was on the road to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge where my best subject of the day was a male light morph Rough-legged Hawk.","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 Rough-legged Hawk staredown, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-stare-down-mia-mcpherson-8178.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-stare-down-mia-mcpherson-8178.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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