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 over the kestrel and started to fly by my truck.  Yup, it was a roughie.  Roughies are lighter in color than most hawks and combined with the fact that it was flying toward us (which roughies seldom do) made me think it was a first year gull for a  few seconds. I almost missed the opportunity because of a stupid mistake (made me feel better though that at first Mia thought it was a gull too).    

 

 

 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 800, f/4, 1.4 tc

These four shots are my favorites of the sequence and they’re posted in order as the hawk flew by.  I liked the tilt of the head best in this image but do wish I had a little more room up top for composition.  Guess I’ll have to add some canvas… 

 

 

 1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, f/4, 1.4 tc

This one has the wing behind the head but I think it works because of the light on the face. 

 

 

 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 800, f/4, 1.4 tc

 I’m sure that this hawk wouldn’t have flown so close to us if it hadn’t felt the need to buzz the kestrel.  Some may not be particularly fond of the plain blue sky background but I’m delighted to get my first keeper roughie photographs in a couple of seasons.

A note about my camera settings for this sequence:  I didn’t need so much shutter speed and should have been at ISO 500.  My excuse is that it had been cloudy all morning until just before this hawk fly by and the light had been low.  Just forgot to adjust – not the first time either…

I can’t resist posting a few images that demonstrate what usually happens when I’m lucky enough to even locate one of these birds (all three examples are also from this morning on the island) – just to show you why I’m happy with the first five photographs in this post.  Lots of things have to come together to get good quality shots and usually some of them are missing. 

 

 

 1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 640, f/4, 1.4 tc

Nice setting, pleasantly blurred background and good light but the bird spooked before I got close enough and it turned slightly away as it took off. 

 

 

 1/400, f/5.6, ISO 800, f/4, 1.4 tc

I liked the way this roughie was nestled down in the perch almost like it was nesting there and I got reasonably close to the bird but the lighting was worse than mediocre (clouds when we first got on the island) so the background is high key (which I’ve never been a fan of) and I have little light in the eye. 

 

 

1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 800 f/4, 1.4 tc

Nice take off pose with good wing position and I got close to the bird but perches don’t come much uglier than this metal post,  the rump is wet and scraggly and I wish I had a better head turn from the hawk.

All in all it was a delightful morning on Antelope Island (we also had an incredible experience with a Prairie Falcon but in poor light of course) and I’m very grateful to that perched kestrel for luring the roughie in close.

Ron