Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 18:39:47 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Boughton, James M." Subject: unidentified white bird at Hughes Hollow MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sunday evening at Hughes Hollow, around 7 p.m., a medium-sized white bird--definitely not a wader--flew low over the first impoundment on the right of the main path, then circled around and disappeared from our view as it headed over to the large impoundment on the left. It appeared to be a bit larger than a crow, with the general appearance of a raptor except for being almost entirely white. It may have had a little black toward the tip of its tail, and it had a little marking around the eye, but that was it. My wife and I were the only birders in the area at the time, and we're not experts. Pictures in the NG and Sibley guides suggest something like a gyrfalcon (except for being far out of range), but with a warning to watch for albino red-tails. Any ideas? An escapee, or a weird dream? Whatever it was, it was quite a sight! Jim Boughton Chevy Chase =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================