Two Red-tailed Hawks Near Old Route 91

Yawning juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in a conifer – Nikon D500, f10, 1/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

I’m home earlier than expected from my trip to Montana and Idaho because of clouds, also because the weather forecasters can’t seem to get their predictions correct.

I am also still dealing with a horrible internet connection which is why this post is later than normal and I can tell you I am getting pretty disgusted by it and something needs to change soon. It makes it hard for me to work and I can’t keep using my cell phone to connect to the internet from home.

I photographed these two Red-tailed Hawks near old route 91 in Idaho which runs close to Interstate 15, part of the road is still paved and part of it is gravel. There are plenty of old fence posts and power poles for raptors to perch on in that area along with plenty of conifers.

I was fairly close to this yawning juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in a conifer when I photographed it from the shoulder of the road with a bright bluebird sky behind it. I loved that I could see its tongue!

Red-tailed Hawk perched on an old telegraph pole – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

Then there was this very light sub-adult Red-tailed Hawk perched on an old telegraph pole that befuddled me. I kept trying to figure out if it was a Krider’s subspecies because of the pale head and plenty of white on the upperparts along with the white-based tail I saw when it lifted off (no photos of that unfortunately) but it is more than likely just a lighter version of the Western subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk that I kept trying to make a Krider’s. Whatever subspecies it is I think this is a particularly handsome bird.

Life is good.

Mia

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