Well, I'm new at this (birding and posting!) so forgive me if what I've asked is all too obvious. View out my window is of Lake Allegan in Allegan, Michigan, which is in western Mich. not far from Lake Michigan. The lake is part of the Kalamazoo River. I photo'd a bird I can't identify with my several books and thru internet photo search. I'm looking from quite a distance so sizing is hard, but it seems to be about 2/3 the size of the bald eagles that also favor the same perching location on an island in the lake. Head and back/wings are brown, with white highlights, and tail from back view is dark red/brown, squared off at the bottom. I'd guess red-tailed hawk, but what's confusing me is this bird's body is completely white viewed from the front, including inside of tail. I took the photos through my scope, but even so it was far enough away that the resolution is not good enough to see facial features clearly (or I need to work on my photo technique). My eye saw more detail than I caught through the camera, so I'm very certain I did not see any brown markings on the bird's body. In flight he looked like a huge gull, all white from below. This bird has been in the area continuously for several weeks (January) that I'm certain of, and he could certainly have been around before I was looking with the scope. Thanks for any suggestions.
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