An Immature Light Morph Ferruginous Hawk In The West Desert

Immature Ferruginous Hawk perched on a cedar post – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

The highlight of my morning yesterday was when I spotted an immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk perched on a cedar post in the West Desert. When I first saw it I was so far away that I couldn’t tell if it was a flyer someone had stapled to the top of a fence post or if it was a bird. It didn’t take me long to figure out that it was a raptor and more specifically a light morph Ferruginous Hawk because of its large bulky shape and bright white belly that glowed in the early morning light as if it were a beacon.

I took a nice long series of the young hawk as it looked around from its perch.

Immature Ferruginous Hawk flying low over a gravel road – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

I could tell something had caught the young hawk’s attention so I kept my eye on it and started photographing it before it left the fence post. The immature hawk swept down low over the gravel road…

Young Ferruginous Hawk flying over a dusty gravel road – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

And started gaining altitude halfway over the dusty gravel road. With its large wings even a single stroke of them propelled it higher into the air.

Immature Ferruginous Hawk turning in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

As the Ferruginous Hawk gained altitude it turned almost directly towards me in flight. The foothills of the mountains behind it created a lovely background.

In the interest of full disclosure there was a bright specular highlight on the left side of the frame in this photo that was from an unknown source that was distracting. I removed it in post processing.

Immature Ferruginous Hawk flying towards me – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

As the immature Ferruginous Hawk flew closer to me the background changed to the partially shaded and sunlit mountain tops. I know this background looks like the sky and clouds but the mountain peaks can look that way at times.

After this last photo was taken the Ferruginous Hawk was so close I clipped every image at the end of the series that I took of this young raptor.

One bird can make my day. Yesterday that bird was this striking Ferruginous Hawk.

Life is good.

Mia

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