All,
While driving to Winchester this morning to meet Jon and BJ Little, I
saw a large white bird sitting in a tree on the north side of Rt. 50
just before the Clarke/Frederick County line. At first I thought, "gee
I'd think that was a snowy owl if it wasn't sitting in a tree". Then,
"maybe it's a super large pigeon". Then, "wow, that's a red-tailed
hawk". I circled around and went back and looked at it in my bins just
to make sure. The bird was facing me and appeared all white on it's
chest, belly and head. Amazing. Jon, BJ, and I returned to the spot
about 45 minutes later but of course the bird was no where to be found.
On my way home around 3:30 though, I spotted the bird again this time
sitting just west of the county line but still on the north side of Rt.
50. I immediately called Jon and BJ and they headed my way. I scoped
the bird to get a good look. This time it had it's back to me. A few
of the primaries and secondaries appeared normal color, and some of the
wing coverts and body contour feathers also appeared normal but the
majority of the bird was snow white. It appeared as an all white bird
with brown splotches. Jon and BJ arrived and Jon managed to snap off
one decent photo through my scope before the bird flew and we were
unable to see it anymore. This bird appears to prefer the area along
the creek which is the county line and thus can't be seen unless it is
sitting along Rt. 50. I've never seen a Red-tailed Hawk that looked
like this. I posted a picture on my website:
http://www.virginiabirding.org/images.htm
Sue
--
Susan A. Heath
George Mason University
Environmental Science Department
Fairfax, VA
Secretary, Virginia Avian Records Committee
Keeper, Virginia Comp List at www.virginiabirding.org
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