![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-5305-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rough-legged-hawk-5305-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nFor this Montana farm boy tumbleweeds symbolize the Old West. As a kid I probably watched too many Western movies.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Most Rough-legged Hawks I’ve photographed this winter have been perched on signs or other man-made structures so four days ago at Bear River MBR I was excited to find this immature Roughie perched on a tumbleweed. Most plant species we call tumbleweeds were introduced from Asia but they’ve become naturalized and pervasive and in the minds of many they symbolize frontier areas and the Old West so they’re close enough to “natural” in my book.<\/p>\n Yes, that’s frost on the hawk’s back.<\/p>\n This bird was at about the right distance for takeoff and flight shots so I left my camera settings where they were to give me oodles of shutter speed but a vehicle approaching from behind put the kibosh on those intentions. I had to move my pickup out of the way and almost immediately after I started my engine the hawk flew the coop while my camera and lens were sitting uselessly on my lap.<\/p>\n Oh well, I like the perched shots so I’ll keep my bellyaching to a minimum.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note to photographers: <\/em><\/p>\n Speaking of bellyaching, I’ve been complaining all winter about getting soft shots due to variable contraction of my camera and lens elements when I stick my warm lens out my pickup window into the freezing air. So in recent weeks while I’ve been out shooting I’ve been bundling up with coats, heavy socks and gloves so I can keep the interior of my pickup, and my lens, cold. <\/em>Brrr!<\/em><\/p>\n That strategy seems to help, a lot, but it isn’t foolproof. On this morning most of my photos were tack sharp or close to it b<\/em>ut my photos of this Roughie were just a little soft when I looked at them at 100%. I can only blame that disparity on the vagaries of photography and perhaps on my old friend Murphy.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For this Montana farm boy tumbleweeds symbolize the Old West. As a kid I probably watched too many Western movies.<\/p>\n