{"id":98654,"date":"2022-01-03T03:39:40","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T10:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=98654"},"modified":"2022-01-06T03:56:07","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T10:56:07","slug":"one-very-cooperative-male-rough-legged-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/03\/one-very-cooperative-male-rough-legged-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"One Very Cooperative Male Rough-legged Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BlueBlue sky and a frosty Rough-legged Hawk portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

For the second year in a row the first bird I photographed in the New Year was a Rough-legged Hawk and both were photographed at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I want to be clear that the Rough-legged Hawk in the photos I am sharing today weren’t the first Rough-legged I photographed yesterday. Honesty is important<\/em> to me. The first Roughie I photographed yesterday was in crappy low light since the sun hadn’t yet risen over the mountains. I took five horrible images of that hawk and those are already slated to be dumped unceremoniously into my delete bin. But it was<\/em> the first bird I photographed in 2022.<\/p>\n

I think the bird photography gods smiled down on me yesterday morning and gave me the gift of a very cooperative male Rough-legged Hawk because of the earlier one in poor light. The adult male Rough-legged Hawk was in an area where I have photographed this species year after year. The Roughie was also very close to the road and for a bit my only option was to take portrait of him. He was probably very sticky because the temps were frigid. I saw a low of 3\u00b0F yesterday morning and it wasn’t much warmer than that when I spotted this hawk.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk perched on a Tamarisk \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 800, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When the male Rough-legged Hawk took off he flew to the west and landed in a Tamarisk which some people call Saltcedar. Tamarisks are introduced shrubs that are found in the American West.<\/p>\n

I’ve photographed Rough-legged Hawks several times this year in this Tamarisk<\/span><\/a>, those hawks may even have been this same bird.<\/p>\n

The Rough-legged Hawk didn’t stay perched in this shrub for long. When he lifted off he flew west again and as I watched him fly I could see that he was heading towards another hawk perched on a plastic marker on the south side of the road.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Rough-legged Hawk in the marsh of Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The male Roughie bumped the other hawk off of this perch and landed on it. On the 5th of December of 2021 I photographed an immature Rough-legged Hawk on this same exact perch<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FrostyFrosty Rough-legged Hawk male portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The male Rough-legged Hawk was sticky, cooperative, and in soft morning light and I was close enough to take portraits of him that showed the fine details in his plumage.<\/p>\n

I’d never turn down the opportunity to take portraits of birds as long as they are comfortable with my presence and this male Roughie was.<\/p>\n

\"JanuaryJanuary Rough-legged Hawk close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The hawk simply looked around his marshy environment as I took photo after photo of him and observed him through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

\"FrostyFrosty January Rough-legged Hawk close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I noticed the frost on his head, chest, throat, and back. I shivered a bit as I photographed him because I was chilly myself and thought about how he had gone through the bitter cold during the night.<\/p>\n

\"FrostedFrosted adult male Rough-legged Hawk portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I also noticed his eyes and was delighted that I could make out both his pupils and his irises. From a distance the eyes of this species look fairly dark yet when I am able to take close up photos like these I can see that their irises are a dark, cognac color. The bright morning sunlight might help with being able to see that color too.<\/p>\n

\"Rough-leggedRough-legged Hawk male with frost on his back \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a hard time picking out a favorite portrait of this Rough-legged Hawk as I reviewed the photos of him that I took so I decided I’d post a few that I liked a lot and found appealing. Even though the left side of his face is shadowed in this image I enjoyed the head on look I got from him and the view of the frost on his back.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk close up as he gets ready to lift off \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

And in this photo I like how he had raised his wings after relieving himself on the marsh. I knew that he was getting ready to lift off again but I continued to focus on him even though I know there was no way I would be able to photograph him lifting off without clipping his wings, tail, and body parts.<\/p>\n

\"PortraitPortrait of a male Rough-legged Hawk stretching \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The male Rough-legged Hawk surprised me when instead of lifting off immediately he stretched his wings over his back for a prolonged period of time. When he finally lifted off and it was okay to move up the road I felt privileged to have been able to take these intimate portraits of this stunning, confiding Rough-legged Hawk.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

For the second year in a row the first bird I photographed in the New Year was a Rough-legged Hawk and both were photographed at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98626,"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":[4004,4007,2069,4008,4275,2497,4142,3983,6904,368,4033,4169,2670,4062,4094,4104,12667,4046,153,1648,3964,5153,4427,30,4095,5498,373],"class_list":["post-98654","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-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","tag-blue-sky","tag-box-elder-county","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-close-up","tag-frost","tag-frosted","tag-frosty","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-plastic-marker","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-stretching","tag-tamarisk","tag-tree","tag-utah-2","tag-wetlands","tag-wings","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-3376.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pFc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109503,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/11\/rough-legged-hawk-staredown\/","url_meta":{"origin":98654,"position":0},"title":"Rough-legged 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