Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk walking down a boulder – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

Of all the raptors I saw on my most recent trip Red-tailed Hawks were the most numerous and I would say that around half of the Red-tailed Hawks that I saw were juveniles. I photographed more juveniles than adults though because they typically aren’t quite as skittish as the adults and hang around longer.

I saw plenty of hawks perched on fences and power poles and fewer of them perched on natural objects so when I have a subject on a natural perch I often take way too many images of them.  When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it. In this frame I loved the texture of the boulder, the raised foot and the look of concentration the hawk appeared to have as it walked down the boulder.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

When the young hawk was done walking down the boulder it fluffed up its feathers and seemed to be soaking up the warmth of the morning sun. It was only 28°F at the time and I know I could feel the chill in the air. The juvenile Red-tailed Hawk seemed perfectly content and didn’t do much at all after this so I said goodbye to it and went looking for more subjects to photograph.

I wonder if this juvenile has headed south and if it might visit the Salt Lake Valley on its fall migration.

Life is good.

Mia

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