Blog Archives
Faraway Rough Legged Hawk
Dear Friends, the last image posted showed a little bird with an extremely close view, but todays find is a rough legged hawk hanging in the air far above our vehicle. I like how the light lit up his tail and head. The dark patches at his wrist are the id marking. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Escape
Friends, this rough-legged hawk has escaped from our summery weather back to his frosty north land. This is a dark phase hawk who hung around later than usual this spring. The dark patch in the wrist area is the id mark that i look for to identify this bird. We are also escaping, running away to the badlands where it is typically hot and dry, a desert area with clay ridges and cliffs. til Tomorrow MJ
Roughies
Friends, I went to Crex Meadows yesterday, the temperatures reached 27 degrees above zero Fahrenheit, almost balmy but with the wind I still needed my jacket. The meadow is full of Rough-Legged Hawks and i saw at least 10 of them in my trip. They like to sit in the top of dead tree snags and when I get near they almost always fly away immediately. So this image is a hawk taking off. The outline around their wings and the dark patches at the wrist are id marks for this specie. If you look closely you can see the feathers that cover their legs, helps to keep them warm. The image below is also a take off from another twig in a treetop. til Tomorrow MJ
Layered Flight
Friends, back to our winter weather now, and while visiting Crex this week, I photographed this rough-legged hawk in flight. I panned him as he flew by and combined the images (6) into one image to show the various wing positions. These images were over-exposed to white-out the background of each then layered on top of a white background and the blending mode of each image layer was set to darken so only the dark pixels are added from each image. Then each bird is moved to a suitable location. The dark wing patch present on the underwing is diagnostic of the roughie and the gray sky is diagnostic of our weather. Hope you enjoy. til Tomorrow MJ
Last Day
Friends, this is the last day at Hawk ridge for the educators and volunteers. I have learned so much from them about the raptors that i can never thank them enough. I t has been a wonderful fall season. thanks everyone. My one hawk that i have not seen up close is a rough legged hawk, but i saw this one on my way home on Monday, so maybe i will see one up close today. This hawk was quite a good way and even with the telephoto he was probably too far for a great shot, but he is a symbol of the whole project and a target for today. so onward and upward, til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Foreign
Friends, These birds are sometimes foreign to Wisconsin having migrated from the far North. We are Florida to these rough-legged Hawks. I am putting together a book of the hawks that i have photographed from Hawk Ridge this fall during the migration. One specie is being difficult to get a photo, although a few have gone over the ridge, I have not been there when a Rough-Legged Hawk has been in hand. This Roughie was photographed by me in Crex during a recent irruption year, maybe it will be my only photograph. They get their name from the beautiful feathering on their legs that protects them from ice, snow and other hazards of the very far northland. I have three days left to photo this bird, maybe I will get lucky. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 