Daily Postcard: A Rough-Legged Hawk spotted last weekend just south of the border in Taos County near San Antonio Mountain in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument (RGdNNM). This hawk, featuring feathers down to its feet like the leg warmers of an 80s disco dancer, is suited for cold weather. Photo by Jonathan Dowell, Ph.D.

Staff Report:

Spending summers as far north as the Arctic Circle, Rough-Legged Hawks migrate south all the way to northern New Mexico in winter. Their favorite hunting grounds are plains and fields where their sharp eyes find rodents and other small animals. So it is no surprise to find them in the sky above the vast Taos Plateau.

Los Alamos wildlife photographer Jonathan Dowell, Ph.D. photographed this Hawk in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument (RGdNNM) last weekend. RGdNNM protects more than 242,000 acres of high plains, volcanic cones, and the Rio Grande Gorge, mostly in Taos and Rio Arriba counties. These protected spaces are essential for species like cougars, bobcats, bighorn sheep and Rough-Legged Hawks needing huge expanses of undisturbed wilderness for their survival. 

Animals like these prefer isolation, making them uncomfortable or vulnerable when noise, lights, and commotion from human activity and development encroaches on those spaces. RGdNNM was established in 2013 under the President Obama administration and is operated by the Bureau of Land Management.

Wildlife photography often involves adventure travel. See more of Dr. Dowell’s photography on Instagram @SnowyEgretPhotography.