Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk in Flight

This hawk has become a bit of an obsession with Mike. It has returned to the same area in the fall the past three years. It is often visible from the entrance to Rt 18 North from Rutgers Busch campus. We spotted him on a light pole today, but the entrance to a freeway is not a safe place to stop (as the campus police reminded us last year). We circled back, parked at the Rutgers Visitor Center and walked on the bike trail that goes along the freeway and got this shot of him flying. The bike trail is called the "East Coast Greenway" on the map above. The hawk was also perched in the trees near the freeway but a bit too obscured for a good photo.

Rutgers leucistic red-tailed hawk

Here's another photo of the white hawk that has been a regular visitor to Rutgers Busch campus in Piscataway. He is often seen near the Busch entrances or exits from Rt 18.

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.