Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 14:47:07 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Boughton, James M." Subject: Re: Albino Buteo in Frederick County MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This sounds like the bird that several of us saw last year, around this time. My wife and I, and separately one other birder, saw it at Hughes Hollow on April 20. My recollection is that someone, or a few people, reported seeing it or a similar bird on the Virginia side of the Potomac a few weeks earlier. Our tentative ID was also an albino red-tail. Jim Boughton Chevy Chase -----Original Message----- From: Bill Hubick [mailto:bill_hubick@YAHOO.COM]=20 Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 9:44 PM To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Albino Buteo in Frederick County Hello Everyone, On my way out to atlas in Washington County yesterday (3/20), my girlfriend Becky spotted something quite out of the ordinary. Riding along I-70 west from Baltimore, we discovered an ALBINO BUTEO perched along the road just before exit 42. We had to double back, but upon our return were able to study the bird extensively through our scope and binoculars. It is nearly completely white above and below, with just a small dark patch on the back of its head. It is certainly a buteo, and we were able to note its yellow legs and yellow cere. While viewing the unusual raptor, a very nice couple pulled over and asked if we were bird-watchers. When we replied in the affirmative, they explained that the bird was present the previous day, and had caused them quite a bit of excitement and confusion. They were in fact on their way back to see the bird again. While we chatted and continued observing, I saw a familiar vehicle pull over on the shoulder -- it was one Mr. Stan Arnold en route to Garrett County! There's nothing better than crazy people with a scope on the side of the highway to get some people's attention! Yet another couple arrived shortly after who said the bird has been present since at least early last week, adding that they've heard albino hawks are fairly regularly observed a bit further north of the area. Views of the bird in flight showed no translucent "windows" that would be indicative of a Red-shouldered Hawk, and my confidence has been further increased in calling it a Red--tailed Hawk by this entry in Sibley's Guide to Birds (p. 123): "Albino Red-tailed is rare but regular throughout entire species range." It seems to be sticking around for a while, and may have been present for quite some time. Stan remembers spotting an all-white raptor near that spot a while back, and thinking perhaps the distant bird was a kite. It's a truly beautiful bird, so good luck to anyone who goes out to look for it! I would love to hear anyone's comments on this sighting, and to hear about anyone else spotting it! I managed to get some passable photos, which I have posted to the following URL: http://www.billhubick.com/albino_buteo.html Stan covered the rest of the good sightings this weekend. I also had a pair of Fox Sparrows while hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail in Washington Co, just east of Smithsburg. Barry and Brenda, it was nice meeting you! Please feel free to join our extremely useful list at http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/mdosprey.html. Take care, Bill Hubick Linthicum, Maryland bill_hubick@yahoo.com =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 =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 =========================================================================