Rough-legged Hawk At Farmington Bay

I photographed my first Rough-legged Hawk of the season four days ago.  The last time I’d photographed them prior to that had been on January 27, 2014 so it had been 285 days in-between opportunities with this species that spends much of the year in the high arctic.  Hopefully that gives me an excuse to post images of roughies twice within just a few days.

 

rough-legged hawk 1389 ron dudley

1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark ll, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, shot and processed in JPEG, not baited, set up or called in

I encountered this bird at Farmington Bay yesterday morning as it flew from tree to tree while being harassed from its perch by an aggressive Northern Harrier.  The sky was almost entirely blue but there was a dark gray cloud bank far to the north which I just happened to catch as background.  I actually appreciate this background color as an interesting alternative to the more common blue, especially since I had good light on almost the entire bird.

I’m now seeing more roughies at Farmington and elsewhere every time I venture out and that encourages me, especially since they were so scarce last winter in my usual haunts.  It would be a very long winter without them.

Ron

17 Comments

  1. Good to see that your lens found such an eye catching tundra girl, Ron. My first roughie of the season, also being harassed by a harrier, was to the northwest of the airport. Let’s hope they’re widespread and plentiful this year.

  2. Too many roughies, and rather a lot of your other birds, are barely enough.
    Post, post, post some more.
    Please.

  3. A cool-looking raptor, for sure, so I’m with Susan–post away!

  4. Is it me, or does this particular bird have extra-large eyes? What a beautiful face it has. Oh, you have a nice face too, Ron.

    • Now that you mention it the eyes do look more prominent than one might expect, Dianne. And thanks for the compliment though I’m not sure how accurate it is…

  5. Beautiful shot of a beautiful bird. Since this is the only way I ever see these birds, you can post as many shots of them, as often as you like, and I’ll be happy.

  6. What spectacular markings! And I like how the muted tones of the sky support the richness of the brown of his plumage. Thanks, Ron.

  7. This bird looks so compact. Are they a smaller hawk?

  8. Wonderful shot Ron!
    Charlotte

  9. I think you can thank the Polar Vortex for pushing the Roughies down to the lower 48.
    Very nice shot Ron.

Comments are closed