Something new at Flt. 93 site.
Sep 11, 2012 12:29:29 #
I saw this bird in the trees at the Flt. 93 Memorial site today. I do not know what kind of bird this is but I thought that it added to the day. 9/11/2012
Bird was appox. 80-100 yds. away. Nikon d5000., 55-300mm lens.
Sep 11, 2012 12:32:59 #
dthomas wrote:
I saw this bird in the trees at the Flt. 93 Memorial site today. I do not know what kind of bird this is but I thought that it added to the day. 9/11/2012
Nice shot. I am thinking the beak looks like that of a hawk. Jan
Sep 11, 2012 12:33:52 #
Sep 11, 2012 13:17:10 #
I thought that it was appropriate considering the location. It was just sitting in the trees. It was something to see.
Sep 12, 2012 15:05:11 #
Sep 14, 2012 07:55:19 #
I contacted the NPS at Flt 93 and received this response.
" What you saw was a red-tailed hawk in the leucistic phase. You can read about this on-line, but my understanding is that the bird is not a true albino because it does have some brown feathers and does not have red eyes or other characteristics of albinos. It has this coloration year round. We've been seeing this lovely bird since our staff moved out here in January, 2011. One of our staff saw the bird mating, so that's why we believe it is a female. There are several other red-tails around the park that are partially white which may be her off-spring. We most often see the bird on the northern end of the park where you saw her, but occasionally we see her sailing over the Field of Honor and the Memorial. "
" What you saw was a red-tailed hawk in the leucistic phase. You can read about this on-line, but my understanding is that the bird is not a true albino because it does have some brown feathers and does not have red eyes or other characteristics of albinos. It has this coloration year round. We've been seeing this lovely bird since our staff moved out here in January, 2011. One of our staff saw the bird mating, so that's why we believe it is a female. There are several other red-tails around the park that are partially white which may be her off-spring. We most often see the bird on the northern end of the park where you saw her, but occasionally we see her sailing over the Field of Honor and the Memorial. "
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