Side lit adult Red-tailed Hawk on a juniper – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/320, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I went out into the West Desert yesterday and came back with more Red-tailed Hawk images that I was delighted to have taken and that I am happy with. I also found a Prairie Falcon before the sun had fully risen.
The Red-tailed Hawks I found were higher in the mountain canyons than the falcon was and they were much less skittish that it was too.
This adult Red-tailed Hawk was side lit but I enjoyed the pose of the raptor and the laciness of the juniper branch it was perched on.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk high on a White Fir – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Then I spotted this sharp looking immature Red-tailed Hawk perched above the cones of a White Fir higher in the canyon. This young hawk was being pestered by several Pine Siskins which are much smaller than the hawk. When it finally took off I hoped I would see it again.
Young Red-tailed Hawk perched on a White Fir high in West Desert Mountains – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
And I did when I found it perched on another White Fir. I liked this background more than I liked the plain blue sky. I enjoyed being able to see the ripening cones of the White fir in my images too.
The hawk was a bit farther away than I would have liked and I struggled some with the steep angle which caused some pain in my shoulder from holding my camera pointed up.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk perched on a White Fir – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I kept hoping that the hawk would lift off and take flight but after a long period of time it seemed like the young raptor was quite content where it was perched.
After leaving the striking looking young Red-tailed Hawk to check out some areas higher up on the mountain. When I came back down the mountain in less than five minutes I was dismayed to see that the hawk had taken off after all and that I missed it.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Your pain and your effort were very well rewarded. Thank you.
Very nice. Were the sunflowers in bloom everywhere? I could not believe the intense sea of yellow in some of the areas we saw while driving to St George. Stunning sunflower year!
Magnificent!