![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/red-tailed-hawk-8307-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-tailed-hawk-8307-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 I found this adult Red-tailed Hawk perched on sagebrush three days ago in northern Utah. The bird was one of a mated pair and I’m unsure of the sex of this one but for the sake of convenience I’ll refer to it as male.<\/p>\n He was perched here for some time but he was largely buried in the sagebrush so I hoped to get lucky with takeoff shots. Sharp eyes will notice the flying insect at upper left.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 When resting raptors rouse (shake their feathers to rearrange them) it’s often a sign of imminent launch so when he did just that\u00a0I tried to guess which way he’d go as an aid to help me keep him in the frame. My best\u00a0guess was that he would take off to his left and all I would get would be butt shots but trying to\u00a0out-guess a bird is far from an exact science so I tried to be prepared for anything.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 But when he started to raise his wings he also twisted his body toward me in the same motion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 I always enjoy getting their wings in a mostly vertical position like this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 In the actual lift-off shot I like the way the bird fills the frame diagonally.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 I was lucky that the hawk kept its focus in the same direction during the entire series which allowed me to get a catch light in every shot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 The force of the takeoff caused small bits of sage debris to fly through the air at lower left.<\/p>\n I damn near clipped a wing on this one…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 and the next one. It doesn’t get much closer than that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 Love those dangling feet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 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 By this time he was getting close enough that I was lucky not to clip anything with his wings in a horizontal position.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n