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1\/2000, f\/7.1, 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 On March 29 of this year I was fortunate enough to get many photos of this pair as they mated in a remote area of Box Elder County, Utah. This particular mating occurred on a cliff ledge fairly close to the nest they’d already been refurbishing for some time.<\/p>\n I was pleased with the setting that included rocks, lichens, dried sunflowers,\u00a0grasses,\u00a0blue sky and even a little greenery as a harbinger of the approaching and much-anticipated\u00a0spring. The birds were close enough to me for pretty good image quality,\u00a0the\u00a0background was far enough\u00a0behind them\u00a0to avoid competing with\u00a0the hawks\u00a0and their behavior and the 8:15 AM light coming from behind me couldn’t have been much better.<\/p>\n This bird photographer and raptor lover couldn’t have hoped for much more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/7.1, 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 conclusion of the mating and the dismount of the male\u00a0are always a flurry of activity and they often present some interesting poses. Here the female still has her tail in a vertical position to facilitate the recently completed\u00a0sperm transfer as the male prepares to climb the ledge of rocks on the right from where he…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/7.1, 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 appeared to look over at their nest on the\u00a0side of the\u00a0cliff before taking off in that direction.<\/p>\n I spent several months watching these birds (from a respectful distance of course) as they chose their nest site, refurbished the old nest, mated (this was the only time I witnessed that behavior with them), incubated their eggs and eventually raised three young hawks to fledging.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 255 mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This is one of those fledglings 97 days after the mating as it practiced its balancing and flight skills on an old rusty pipe enclosing a water source. The image quality of this photo and the next two is only mediocre but I adore the behavior.<\/p>\n The young bird hop-jumped the entire length of the pipe with decidedly mixed results. Sometimes it nailed the landing and other times it very nearly fell off the pipe. But it was determined to make it to the end of the pipe without cheating by actually flying to its destination (which it was fully capable of doing\u00a0at this point).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 255 mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n In the next frame the awkward young bird is making contact with the pipe from the jump in the previous image. This particular “landing” went pretty well but not all of them did.<\/p>\n At lower left you’ll notice that the pipe is about to change both direction and angle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 255 mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But that didn’t deter the young hawk as it continued hop-jumping\u00a0along the pipe for a distance of perhaps 40+’ until…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-9793-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-tailed-hawk-9793-ron-dudley\\"")
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