Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 19:15:23 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Paul Mocko Subject: Re: unidentified white bird at Hughes Hollow Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed On March 19th I saw a raptor similar to your description. I was about a half mile north of the visitors center of Riverbend Park, scoping across the river to the MD shore. Except for head turning the bird did not move, frustrating my attempt to positively ID the bird. The bird had its back to me and was very white overall, with some brown at the tips of the tail feathers. It did have a dark mark near its eye, and a bluish beak. I thought partial albino Red shouldered hawk. I assumed it was migrating, but we may have an unusual raptor in the Potomac corridor. Or bad morels? Paul Mocko McLean, VA >From: "Boughton, James M." >Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding >To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM >Subject: [MDOSPREY] unidentified white bird at Hughes Hollow >Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 18:39:47 -0400 > >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 > >======================================================================= >To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com >with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey >======================================================================= _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================