Thanks to all of you who weighed in on my hawk dilemma. The picture below that
Allan sent me is almost exactly what I saw. So, leucistic red-tailed hawk is the
verdict. But what fun seeing these beautiful birds, and thanks again for all
your help. I've learned a lot about hawks from the emails.
I'll keep looking for more exciting things. One never knows what's around the
next corner!!!
Verna Ansel
Galloway, OH
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, November 8, 2010 10:55:07 PM
Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] ID of hawk - help needed
Why not Albino Red-tailed Hawks. They are regularly seen in Ohio. Here's an
image from one that has been in the Brookville Lake area in Southeast Indiana,
not far from Oxford Ohio for quite a few years.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsxbirder/5006706700/
There are also some flight shots in my Flickr gallery for additional views.
Allan Claybon
-----Original Message-----
From: Verna Ansel <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, Nov 8, 2010 6:08 pm
Subject: [Ohio-birds] ID of hawk - help needed
OK, this is a tough one. Today at around 3:00 p.m. on Roberts Road in Hilliard,
OH at the westernmost part of Franklin County I saw two hawks sitting on a fence
line. I was able to view them for about 2-3 minutes from about 200+ feet from my
car with fairly low-powered binoculars. One was mostly white, including the
wings, with just a patch of dark coloring on the leading edge of the wings.
Underneath was mostly white also with just a band of dark coloring at what might
have been the belly band, and the tail was white with only a narrow band of
color at the tip. The size of both birds was as large as a Red-Tailed Hawk and
they flew similar to the wing beat when they took off. The white one was eating
something (looked like a rabbit by the size, but hard to tell from my distance
and the state of the prey) and the second one was trying to get in a peck or
two. The second one was more a common brown color. I would liken it to a picture
in my hawk book of a light morph Ferruginous Hawk. They were obviously together
because when one flew, the other followed. Size was pretty much the same. Again
in my hawk book (Hawks & Owls of the Great Lakes Region by Chris Earley) the
white one looks an awful lot like a picture of a White Morph Gyrfalcon. Now is
this possible? Or was I seeing some form of a white morph Ferruginous Hawk? Or
are there others that might have seen this pair and have an idea? I looked for a
falconer thinking they might have been a trained pair, but they were on private
property and noone was around. Even after they flew I saw noone directing or
calling them. Wish I could have seen them closer and longer, but birds just
don't wait for us slow-witted untrained birders. Any help would be appreciated.
And I know you'll have dozens of questions which I should have thought of
commenting on. Fire away. I really would like to identify this beautiful pair.
Verna Ansel Galloway, OH (Franklin County)
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