{"id":95254,"date":"2021-02-22T04:40:06","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T11:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=95254"},"modified":"2021-02-22T09:34:48","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T16:34:48","slug":"an-unusually-handsome-male-rough-legged-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/22\/an-unusually-handsome-male-rough-legged-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unusually Handsome Male Rough-legged Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crystal clear air, sunny skies, cold temps, fairly remote country and several raptor species to photograph – yesterday was a good day to be alive.<\/p>\n

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I spent the morning in and near the mountains out west. The higher I got in the mountains the riskier it became driving on the ice and snow covered and deeply rutted dirt roads but it was great to be up there.<\/p>\n

I made the mistake of taking this photo with my cell phone and it shows. I had an extra DSLR camera sitting on the seat right next to me that I should have used.. Next time I’ll know better.<\/p>\n

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1\/8000, 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

Soon after I came out of the mountains I spotted this adult male Rough-legged Hawk on a metal fence post near the road. He was close with patchy snow behind him.<\/p>\n

The white above and below his beak reminds me of some color phases of Swainson’s Hawks.<\/p>\n

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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 320, 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

His next perch was a large pile of rocks that was further away. Here the background is the snowy mountains we see in the first photo above. I took many photos of him perched here but…<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 320, 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

eventually I backed up about 10′ in order to get blue sky in the background, just for the variety.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 320, 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

You’re right, I was pissed when I clipped his wings at takeoff. I thought about that possibility just before he lifted off and I still clipped them, even though I had plenty of room in the frame to avoid doing it. Thirteen years of photographing birds and I’m still making mistakes like this.<\/p>\n

As Pam Skaar pointed out in her comment below I may have clipped his wings but this posture really shows off his legs feathered all the way down to his feet. That’s the source of the “rough-legged” part of their common name.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 320, 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

It’s a little unusual for me to post a takeoff or flight shot with the bird’s wings in horizontal positions but in this case I like how his wing and body conform to the top of the rock pile.<\/p>\n

So, two glaring mistakes in the same post – a poor choice of cameras and clipped wings. Hopefully if I make a big deal out my errors I’ll know better next time.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes: <\/em><\/p>\n