{"id":99035,"date":"2022-01-18T05:43:24","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T12:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=99035"},"modified":"2022-01-18T05:43:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T12:43:24","slug":"light-morph-adult-male-rough-legged-hawk-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/18\/light-morph-adult-male-rough-legged-hawk-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Light Morph Adult Male Rough-legged Hawk In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult male light morph Rough-legged Hawk in the Wasatch Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I photographed a light morph adult male Rough-legged Hawk perched in a tree in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>. Other than a distant Bald Eagle this was really my only bird subject that was close enough to take images of. I found other birds. They were simply too far away.<\/p>\n

I loved the light colored branches of the tree, the darker leaf buds, the pose of the hawk, and having the snow covered Wasatch Mountain peaks in the background.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk in the snowy Wasatch Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t often see Rough-legged Hawks up in the mountains at such high elevations but this location had the open grassy fields that Rough-legged Hawks prefer to hunt in so I don’t think this specific spot would be considered all that unusual to find this species in.<\/p>\n

This photo and the one above are my favorite images of the male Rough-legged Hawk from yesterday. I find the snowy mountain peak background of both images visually interesting and aesthetically appealing.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk in Summit County \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

In a second spot which was closer to the Rough-legged Hawk what I had in the background was plain blue sky. Despite the hawk filling the frame more I don’t find the images of the Rough-legged Hawk with the blue sky in the background nearly as appealing or as visually interesting. Your tastes may vary.<\/p>\n

I didn’t see as many Bald Eagles as I would have expected to find in the mountains at this time of the year yesterday. With our strange and at times warmer than normal winter so far I expect that migrant Bald Eagles are probably in a holding pattern further north for the time being.<\/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":"

Yesterday I photographed a light morph adult male Rough-legged Hawk perched in a tree in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99026,"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],"tags":[4004,2663,2069,6577,4275,2497,4033,4169,2386,8218,2670,4062,4069,4104,153,1648,4018,4050,4328,4427,4176,373],"class_list":["post-99035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-rough-legged-hawks","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-blue-sky","tag-branches","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-leaf-buds","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-sky","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-tree","tag-wasatch-mountains","tag-winter"],"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