![\"red-tailed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-8633-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I found this wet and bedraggled juvenile Red-tailed Hawk nine days ago at a very snowy\u00a0Farmington Bay.\u00a0 They often assume this droopy-winged\u00a0pose when they’re trying to dry out their feathers.\u00a0 We can’t see most of the primaries of the left wing because they’re hidden by snow that has been wind-blasted against the east side of the post.\u00a0\u00a0 If it looks like part of the bill is missing it’s because there’s a bit of snow stuck to the upper mandible.\u00a0 That snow stays in place throughout this entire sequence.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Soon the bird flew to a nearby kestrel box but I was preoccupied\u00a0with something else when it took off from here so I missed the opportunity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/16000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 100-400 @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n It soon landed on another post near the road and I decided that even though it was a cloudy, mostly dreary morning I’d attempt flight shots at take-off.\u00a0 My flight shot keeper rate is poor in these lighting conditions because contrast tends to be so low that autofocus struggles to keep locked on to the bird.\u00a0 I switched lenses so I’d be less likely to clip anything and waited.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 100-400 @ 340mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0When it launched the hawk gave me a leaning take-off which I liked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 100-400 @ 340mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Then I got lucky.\u00a0 The bird stayed low enough that…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 100-400 @ 340mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0there was mostly\u00a0snow directly behind the bird…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n