![\"rough-legged-hawk-2513\"](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-25132.jpg\" "\\"rough-legged-hawk-2513\\"")
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\u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n It was amazing to see how still in the air this bird could be – often maintaining the same relative position to the ground without\u00a0significant wing\u00a0movement for long periods.\u00a0 I swear that if I had been using a tripod I could have focused on the bird, walked away for 10 seconds or so and then returned and snapped the shutter with the hawk still in the frame and without\u00a0having had to look\u00a0through the viewfinder or refocus.\u00a0\u00a0 A bit of a stretch perhaps, but not by\u00a0a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n Much of the time the hawk was hunting –\u00a0looking down into the grasses for voles.\u00a0\u00a0That head position doesn’t provide the eye contact that is photographically desirable but I wanted to include a shot that illustrated hunting posture.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>The hawk caught several voles while I was photographing it.\u00a0 In this instance the bird immediately took to the air with the very young vole…<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/em>And\u00a0swallowed it whole while airborne.\u00a0\u00a0I clipped the tail and there’s shadow on the face but I thought I’d include the shot\u00a0anyway to show the behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a01\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>Other times the hawk would consume the vole in pieces\u00a0while still on the ground.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n Most of the shots I got that day had blue skies or white clouds as background.\u00a0 I made an effort to try to get the horizon or water in the background but\u00a0most of those\u00a0images didn’t turn out.\u00a0 This\u00a0is one of the few I got with\u00a0the Great Salt Lake as background, taken as the bird was rising after having eaten a vole.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n And this image\u00a0shows the horizon in the background.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n I liked this shot due to the good eye contact and because the bird was turned slightly in my direction.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/1000, f\/8, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>Occasionally this hawk would\u00a0see something of interest on the other side of the causeway and raise its head, apparently to get a better look over the road.\u00a0\u00a0Doing so often forced its body\u00a0into this unusual posture that I find appealing.\u00a0 My friend Mia calls this the “chicken necked” pose.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0\u00a01\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n