Return of the White Hawk

Last winter we observed a white hawk, actually a leucistic red-tailed hawk, on Rutgers Busch campus. Mike spotted him again while driving to work about a week ago. We've both been on the lookout when driving in the area. Today since the weather was nice and we wanted to get outside, we did a drive by of the area and found him. We parked and were able to watch him from a distance for a while. We also wandered around the area after he flew away but didn't get any pictures of the few birds we found.

Leucistic hawk

One day about a month ago, Chris was driving home from having a nice lunch with Mike. Close to our exit off of Route 18, she saw something very large and white perched in a tree. She called Mike and said, I think I just saw an all white hawk. He suggested she put on warmer clothes and take another drive around to see if she could get pictures. No luck that day. Another day Mike thought he saw it, and it was around the same time in the afternoon on another sunny day. So, one day Chris and Mike went out together on a sunny afternoon specifically looking for this curious specimen. No luck that day either, but we did get chased off by the police for parking along the side of the road. Mike is persistent and dedicated to the mission, so today when we were heading out for the movies, he suggested we bring the camera and make a scan for the hawk since it was sunny and around the same time again. Well, weren't we lucky today! He is likely a leucistic red-tailed hawk.

Hawk

 

California Birds

Hawk

Glossy Ibis

Swallow

Seal

Gull

Grebe Resting

Grebe

Widgeon

Blue Winged Teal

Ruddy Duck

Cormorants

Mike took a quick trip to California. Here are few bird photos.

Hawk

We're not certain what type of hawk this is. It may be a Cooper's hawk, since we read they have a grey head and wings. But many Cooper's hawk pictures are mostly brown. If this is a Cooper's hawk, I'm not sure what hawk we photographed last week. Our best guess is that this one is mature and the other a juvenile.

Cooper's Hawk

Hawk

This large hawk flew in at dusk. We estimate he is about 30 inches, at least twice the size of the sharpshined hawks that are more common on the lake. We weren't able to identify what type of hawk he was. Maybe he's an eagle.

Hawk Getting Ready to Fly

This hawk hung around for a while in a tree looking for something to eat. He scared a finch away from the feeder and landed on a post on the dock. Here is a picture of him as he was flying away still hungry.

There was a squirrel in the tree who didn't move for a few minutes. Here, the hawk seemed to consider a squirrel dinner.

One Less Finch for the Great Backyard Bird Count

While counting birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count, a sharpshined hawk came by and caught a finch in mid-air. He flew to a nearby tree with his prey.

Sharpshined Hawk