\u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 640, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nAs the sun rose over the mountains to the east we found this Rough-legged Hawk perched in a tree at the top of the same hill as the tree in the first image.\u00a0 The hawk moved very little and at first it looked like it was frozen in place (it had been\u00a0 -2\u00a0 degrees F a few minutes earlier and was +5 when this photo was taken).\u00a0 The bird is fluffed in an attempt to keep warm but I suspect that its frozen and distorted breast feathers didn’t do the best job of insulating.<\/p>\n
It was bitterly and uncomfortably cold inside my pickup (windows down, engine and heater off, of course) and I kept thinking what it must have been like for this hawk to\u00a0spend the entire night out in the elements.\u00a0 Though the species\u00a0breeds in the high arctic and sub-arctic, that’s during summer when the sun seldom sets.\u00a0\u00a0 I can’t help but think that\u00a0the time they spend on their wintering grounds might be a bigger overall\u00a0survival challenge\u00a0than when they’re in the arctic.<\/p>\n
This tree at the top of a hill is the highest perch on the refuge and the\u00a0hawk was at the very top of it so the warming sun reaches this spot first.\u00a0 Makes me wonder if the perch was a deliberate choice for that reason.<\/p>\n
As I peered out into the darkness a few minutes ago (4:45 AM) I see that the fog\/smog has settled in once again so I\u00a0might not be going out shooting this morning.\u00a0 But if it clears I may get lucky with the frost once again.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During winter, photography in the valley of the Great Salt Lake can be difficult at best due to frequent inversions that trap fog and smog in the low-lying areas and that especially includes the marshes near the lake. These inversions often last for days or even weeks and the fog and smog get progressively worse each day. But the fortunate result for photographers is the thick hoarfrost that blankets everything in the vicinity of the lake if and when the fog burns off during the day.<\/p>\n
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![\"farmington](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/farmington-frosted-tree-1405-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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