Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk with wings spreadJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk with wings spread – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

These images of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County were taken on Sunday morning, June 22nd while leaving southwestern Montana to head back to Utah. Normally I don’t want to leave Montana but this time I really hated to go.

This very cooperative juvenile Red-tailed posed for 20 minutes on two different perches along the side of a gravel road on weather worn fence posts strung with barbed wire with a sagebrush and grass-covered hill in the background.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk diving for preyJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk diving for prey – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light, not baited

At one point the juvenile dove towards the ground after prey but it didn’t capture it. I could have used a touch more shutter speed to freeze the motion of the wings though I like how the bit of blur adds to the feeling of movement.

Red-tailed Hawk juvenileRed-tailed Hawk juvenile – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

After missing the prey on the ground this young Red-tailed Hawk landed on another fence post nearby and it appeared to be scanning the area for more prey. The raptor didn’t seem to be bothered at all by my long lens poking out of the pickup window and spent a little over a minute on this post before it lifted off in search for food.

Perched juvenile Red-tailed HawkPerched juvenile Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

The beauty of this hawk and the lovely setting is etched forever into my mind, actually the whole trip is! More to come about that soon.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.