![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-2225-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rough-legged-hawk-2225-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nI spent more time with this Rough-legged Hawk than I have with any other raptor in flight.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n It was kiting in the wind along the Antelope Island causeway back in December of 2011 and it allowed me hundreds of photos\u00a0over 29 minutes\u00a0as it hunted for voles in the vegetation below. At one point it caught a “pinkie” vole (a still\u00a0hairless baby) and I still wonder how that happened since at that age the young voles should still be hidden\u00a0in their dens.<\/p>\n Many of my shots of this bird were quite similar (the bird looking down with its wings held horizontally) but several times it raised its head in flight to look over the causeway road behind me as it’s doing here and that gave me some interesting\u00a0pose variation. I’ve posted another shot like this\u00a0in the past but this image (and the other two included here) are new to my blog.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n There\u00a0was a stiff breeze that morning and here I caught the hawk tilting its fanned tail as it began to maneuver in the direction it’s looking. I tend to think homogenous sky in the background is pretty blas\u00e9 but here I got a mix of wispy clouds and blue sky which for me is an improvement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n One time I got lucky when the hawk dipped down low enough to put the Great Salt Lake in\u00a0the background. At that point the bird was actually flapping its wings a little and I like the more appealing wing position the moderate wing-flapping provided.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’m ecstatic! As I type this at 4:40 AM there’s almost 6″ of fresh snow on my deck and it’s still coming down fairly hard. It’s supposed to continue to snow through early tomorrow morning and\u00a0boy\u00a0do\u00a0we ever need it! This is only our second significant snowstorm this winter so hopefully it’s really dumping\u00a0in the mountains which are our primary source of water throughout the rest of the year.<\/p>\n It’s about damn time. We need it\u00a0and the birds need it.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I spent more time with this Rough-legged Hawk than I have with any other raptor in flight.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-2277-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rough-legged-hawk-2277-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-2343-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rough-legged-hawk-2343-ron-dudley\\"")
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