Red-tailed Hawk – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Red-tailed Hawk Delight

By Mia McPherson|September 30th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, hawks, Hawks of Utah, immature, juvenile, raptors, red tail hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Red-tailed hawk|

I had another great day with juvenile Red-tailed Hawks on Antelope Island State Park last week.

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More Raptor Rapture – Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile

By Mia McPherson|September 9th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, flight, flying, focused, hawks, immature, juvenile, landing, lift off, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Red-tailed hawk|

These juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) images were taken on two consecutive days last week. I'm always excited to have a bird in my view finder and when I can photograph hawks for two days in a row... I feel raptor rapture.

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Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in landing pose

By Mia McPherson|September 5th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, flight, hawks, immature, juvenile, landing, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Red-tailed hawk|

I had fun yesterday photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) as it perched on rocks and hunted for prey. This image shows the Red-tailed coming in for a landing.

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Fun with a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

By Mia McPherson|August 24th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, fence, flight, hatch year bird, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Montana, immature, juvenile, lift off, perched, raptor, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Red-tailed hawk|

While I was away in Montana for eight days starting last week I had a fantastic time photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.

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Which way did Mia go?

By Mia McPherson|August 19th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Humor, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: Beaverhead County, bird photography, birding, birds, Buteo jamaicensis, Centennial Valley, humor, immature, juvenile, Montana, nature, nature photography, Red-tailed Hawk, wildlife, wildlife photography|

Some images strike my funny bone, this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk photograph sure has. This is but one of many captions that came to my mind after viewing it.

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The Price for these Red-tailed Hawk Images

By Mia McPherson|August 2nd, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: bird photography, birding, birds, Buteo jamaicensis, flight, immature, juvenile, lift off, perched, Red-tailed Hawk, Western Red-tailed hawk, wildlife photography|

After having driven around the north end of the island we headed south thinking there probably wouldn't be much to shoot there... until I spotted this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perching on some of the darker rocks on the island.

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Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk from the north side of the Centennial Valley, Montana

By Mia McPherson|July 31st, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: Beaverhead County, Buteo jamaicensis, Centennial Valley, fence, fence rail, hawk, hawks, immature, juvenile, perched, rail, Red-tailed Hawk, summer, talons, valley, wooden fence, wooden rail, young|

On my mid-July journey to southwestern Montana it seemed like there were juvenile hawks every where I looked, the east and west side of the Centennial Valley and the south and north sides too.

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A pair of Red-tailed Hawks in early morning light

By Mia McPherson|July 25th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: adults, Beaverhead County, bird photography, birding, birds, Buteo jamaicensis, nature photography, Red-tailed Hawk, wildlife photography|

Having one Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) in my viewfinder is a joy and getting two of them in the same frame is even more of a delight.

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Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County, Montana

By Mia McPherson|July 24th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, diving, hawks, immature, juvenile, Montana, perched, raptor, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, summer, valley|

These images of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County were taken on Sunday morning, June 22nd while leaving southwestern Montana to head back to Utah.

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Montana is beckoning to me…

By Mia McPherson|May 7th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Birds, Cliff Lake, Eastern Kingbirds, Glacier County, Glacier National Park, Gravelly Range, Great Horned Owls, Madison County, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Pronghorn, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-tailed Hawks, Short-eared Owls, Swainson's Hawks, Tree Swallows, Wilson's Snipes|Tags: Antilocapra americana, Asio flammeus, Bubo virginianus, Buteo jamaicensis, Buteo swainsoni, Cliff Lake, Eastern Kingbird, Gallinago delicata, Great Horned Owl, homestead, immature, juvenile, Madison Range, Madison River, Mountain Bluebird, Pronghorn, Red-tailed Hawk, Short-eared Owl, Sialia currucoides, Swainson's Hawk, Tachycineta bicolor, Tree Swallow, Tyrannus tyrannus, Wilson's Snipe|

Seeing the word "Montana" so often has gotten me anxious, antsy and itching to head north soon to see more of a state that beckons to me because I have fallen in love with it.

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The West Desert of Utah

By Mia McPherson|February 29th, 2012|Categories: Horned Larks, Pronghorn, Red-tailed Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, West Desert|Tags: Antilocapra americana, bird photography, birding, birds, birds of prey, Buteo jamaicensis, Cathartes aura, desert, desert flats, Eremophila alpestris, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, Horned Lark, lark, larks, mountains, nature, Pronghorn, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, Stansbury Mountains, Turkey Vulture, Utah, vulture, vultures, west desert, wildlife photography|

I am one of those people who love deserts and the West Desert of Utah is once again beckoning to me. The weather here in Utah is very changeable right now, it can feel like spring one day and the next it still feels like winter but it won't be long before the weather levels out and the west desert will begin to green up.

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Red-tailed Hawk with Long-billed syndrome

By Mia McPherson|November 6th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: beak deformity, bill deformity, Buteo jamaicensis, coped, coping, Long bill syndrome, long-billed syndrome, nature, Red-tailed Hawk|

Red-tailed Hawk with Long-billed syndrome, a perfect example of the sickle-bill form (the worst) all the way over in Utah and the first I am aware of for that state.

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Taking a look back on a few previous Autumn Birds

By Mia McPherson|October 28th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Pied-billed Grebes, Red-tailed Hawks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Ring-necked Pheasants, Tooele County, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: Agelaius phoeniceus, autumn, birds of prey, blackbird, blackbirds, Buteo jamaicensis, Circus hudsonius, desert, Gray Ghost, grebe, grebes, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Northern Harrier, Phasianus colchicus, pheasant, Pickleweed, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Ring-necked Pheasant, sparrow, sparrows, White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys|

Photographing birds during Autumn is a wonderful time for me in Utah, the beautiful fall colors delight and enthrall me, the air gets nippy and I find myself feeling a surge of energy whenever I am outdoors.

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Friday Photos – A split second does matter

By Mia McPherson|July 29th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Frustrations in bird photography, Handheld, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: bird photographer, bird photography, birds, Buteo jamaicensis, clipped, frustration, frustrations in photography, hawk, nature, photography, Red-tailed Hawk, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, wildlife|

For the past two days I have been having an amazing time photographing a family of Red-tailed Hawks; including at least 4 juveniles, in Tooele County, Utah

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Red-tailed Hawks

By Mia McPherson|March 2nd, 2011|Categories: Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: Buteo jamaicensis, desert, fence post, hawk, hawks, immature, juvenile, perched, raptors, Red-tailed Hawk, sky, tree, Utah, young|

I'm looking forward to seeing red-tailed hawks in the high country of Utah and Montana this summer and hopefully getting some more images of both the juveniles and adult.

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