Category: Rough-legged Hawks

Sometimes the Prey Bites Back

I hope you’ll bear with me but this post will be more about behavior than image quality as I just didn’t have a good light angle for this little drama.  As I’ve said elsewhere on this blog, one of my primary goals is to document interesting behaviors and at times that will take priority over the quality of the images.  When Rough-legged Hawks dive on prey it can be fairly dramatic.  Typically they hover high up over the potential prey for a few moments, then dive fast and at a fairly steep angle.  Occasionally they seem to hit the ground so hard that it rattles my teeth, almost making me expect them to bounce on impact.     1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This morning I watched this hawk hover, then dive.  I think you can see from the wing position that this bird was still traveling at a good clip and at a fairly steep angle when it was only a couple of feet from the ground.   The prey was on a hill above me and buried in this vegetation so I didn’t see the impact.       1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  Often these attempts at prey are unsuccessful but this time the hawk caught a vole (along with a talon-full of debris).   The bird came out of the grasses directly toward me but then turned to its left to give me a side view.     1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc  This little vole had a bucket-full of attitude and didn’t want to go down…

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A Very Cooperative Rough-legged Hawk

In a previous post I mentioned that I had been encouraged by the number of Rough-legged Hawks (roughies) I’ve been seeing this fall.  Well I’m delighted to report that the situation continues to improve.  On virtually every photo expedition over the last few weeks I’ve seen several of them and on two recent trips we’ve made about a dozen sightings of different individuals each time.  However getting good photos of them is a different story altogether.   After a season in the high arctic they’re very unapproachable and even when I have been able to get reasonably close they’re usually perched on an unattractive sign or post and take off away from me.  All that changed a few days ago though when we found one very cooperative bird.  This species has the most different male and female plumages (sexual dimorphism) of all our buteos and I’m quite sure this is a light phase female.     1/1000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc We first spotted this bird on a low wooden post that resembled a piling and I was pleasantly surprised that it let us approach (in my vehicle) with no signs of nervousness.   It was early on a cold, frosty morning and while looking through the viewfinder I assumed that the material on top of the post was spider silk that had collected dew and then frozen.  But after looking at the photos at home I wasn’t so sure so the next day I walked over to the post to check it out.   Duh – should have known.  It was  frosted bison fur.  This was Antelope Island…

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Rough-legged Hawks Return To Utah

For the last couple of years I’ve had very little luck locating Rough-legged Hawks (roughies) here in northern Utah, which frustrates me because I think they’re among the most handsome and photogenic of all the raptors and I love to photograph them.  These birds breed in the high arctic so they aren’t here at all during the summer.  Most of them winter in the “lower 48” but they are highly nomadic and their numbers in a particular area fluctuate according to the availability of their rodent prey.  This year I’m greatly encouraged because in the last ten days or so I’ve seen many of these striking hawks.     1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc This one was atop a perch that is photographically challenging – a Tintic Quartzite boulder on the north end of Antelope Island.   These rocks often blow out the whites on the sun side, especially if the bird on them is dark.  I’ve deleted many a shot of a raven on one of these boulders.       1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 800, f/4, 1.4 tc This morning I had a wonderful (though sometimes frustrating) time with the roughies on the island.  The highlight of the morning came when I was trying to sneak up on a kestrel perched in a rabbit brush.  As I did so I noticed a gull flying right toward the kestrel but I quickly ignored it and concentrated on the kestrel.  Then, at the last second, something in my mind said “hey, that was no gull” just as the bird swooped low…

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Rough-legged Hawk – Defensive Posture

Most birds are defensive of their territories and space and raptors are certainly no exception.  Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers both prey heavily on voles (mice-like rodents) so when a new bird of prey comes in to the established hunting territory of another there are often conflicts, with the established bird attempting to drive off the interloper to avoid competition for food resources.    Rough-legged Hawk As I was photographing this Rough-legged hawk sitting peacefully in a tree I noted a definite change in its demeanor so I looked around and spotted a Northern Harrier speeding toward the hawk from my right.  I anticipated that the harrier would “buzz” the roughie and since I was much too close to get both birds in the frame when it happened I decided to concentrate on the reaction of the hawk as the interaction occurred.  I never did get the harrier in the frame in any of the shots.   In the image above, the roughie hasn’t yet seen the harrier coming in (nor have I).     The incoming Northern Harrier has been spotted When I noticed this posture change in the roughie I knew something was up, so I looked in the direction the bird was focused on and saw the harrier coming in fast.       Beginning to react Here the hawk is beginning to react to the swift and aggressive approach of the harrier by beginning to fluff up.       Defensive posture This shot was taken when the harrier, traveling very fast, was closest to the hawk – roughly three…

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