A Very cool Hawk... (1 Viewer)

[jasonp]

I went out three days ago in South Texas and found a very white Red-tailed hawk but didn't have a decent camera. It was such a cool looking hawk, I had to go back out the next day loaded with my Canon 40D and 400mm lens in hopes that the hawk would be maintaining a territory. I went out on the ranch that I had seen it early in the AM and saw it but unfortunately, it was a LONG way off; too far for my 400mm lens. I left the ranch and came back a couple of hours later. There it was sitting on a fence post as I was driving past. I drove down the road a ways, stopped and did my best ninja imitation trying to stay behind cover until I could get close enough for a shot. As soon as I thought I was close enough, I stepped out and started firing. He only sat still for about 10 seconds but it was long enough to get a few shots. What a cool looking bird!!
Here are a few of the shots:
Perched
In Flight 1
In Flight 2
In Flight 3

Thanks,
Jason Penney

 

[Daniel Martin]

Great Pics Jason - how unusual is a colouration like this?

 

[Espen]

wow!! what a great bird and some fantastic pics to!!!!!

 

[Kentbloke]

stunning!

 

[Enji]

Great looking bird, and wonderful pictures!

 

[jasonp]

Great Pics Jason - how unusual is a colouration like this?

Red-tails have some color variation but I've never seen one with a total lack of pigmentation. I've sent the photos to our local bird expert and he's never seen one like this either. Just for reference, this is our "normal" Red-tail around here:
Normal 1
Normal 2
Jason