Portrait of an immature Red-tailed Hawk on a riverbank – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Yesterday morning I photographed an immature Red-tailed Hawk dining al fresco on the bank of the Bear River on my way back to I-15 to head home. The blue in the background of all of these photos is the Bear River with a crust of ice on it that has started to melt.
I took a few portraits of the striking Red-tailed Hawk.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk with prey on the bank of the Bear River – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I’m lucky that I was able to fit this young Red-tailed Hawk in the frame because it was so close to the edge of the road. Had I been on the right shoulder I probably wouldn’t have had to struggle as much to not clip body parts. This image and the next two photos are all full frame and simply re-sized for web presentation.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk eating prey on the Bear River – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I clipped the tail of the bird in more images than I should have while the young hawk moved around as it ate its prey which I believe was an American Coot.
I was very pleased with the quality of my images of this immature Red-tailed Hawk. Every feather was crisp and sharply in focus.
Young Red-tailed Hawk dining on the bank of the Bear River – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
This first winter Red-tailed Hawk was hungry. It stayed with its prey even though there were three vehicles nearby. The young hawk did seem bothered though by the people in a dark blue Rubicon Jeep that got out of their vehicle. It kept an eye on those two people as it tried to consume its catch.
Back view of a young Red-tailed Hawk on the Bear River – Nikon D500, f9, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
Had I not seen the dark brown lump on the riverbank where my brain said “that shouldn’t be there” I might not have gotten images of this immature Red-tailed Hawk at all. I wouldn’t have been able to point the hawk out in time. As it was, we stopped closer to the bird than I would have.
Bear River immature Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D500, f9, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
But I did see the hawk and I took several hundred images of it having breakfast on the banks of the Bear River after spending time on the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
As a side note, yesterday morning on the way to the refuge that I said out loud that it felt so spring-like that I half expected to see Sandhill Cranes in the fields. Well, I didn’t see them but I heard two separate flocks of Sandhill Cranes calling. I was very surprised to hear the cranes. In January.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Wow! The power of the stare! It’s almost as if the Hawk is saying, “Back-off folks. I’m having lunch!” Great series. Thanks Mia.
Super sharp images against the soft blue water background. Nicely done!
Wonderful set, Mia! You have inspired me to get out to Farmington Bay tomorrow.
I am very grateful for your ‘eagle eyes”. Thank you for sharing this beauty.
Many thanks, great images I guess when I hazard a guess it is a hazard! VBG!!
Beautiful images, love em! I’ll ask the same question I asked Ron, is this a dark phase Red-tail?
Dick, this is an immature Western Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis calurus) which tend to be darker than your eastern birds. I did not clearly see the chest on the hawk and without seeing it I’d be hesitant to say if it were a dark morph because the backs of our western red-tails can be very dark and the chest could be lighter.