I was happy to see this post. I used to live near this location and as mentioned, this hawk has been around since 2001 or 2002, which makes him almost 20 years old! Here is an article in the Broomfield Enterprise in 2009 related to his recovery from the broken wing. https://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/2009/07/08/rare-white-hawk-on-mend-at-birds-of-prey/
Janis Robinson Coal Creek Canyon On Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 12:00:03 PM UTC-6, Senglan9 wrote: > > I live beside Westminster City Park near Broomfield. Last night while > playing disk golf at around 7PM, I was just about finished when I see a > giant ALL WHITE bird. I always take my binoculars with me to a park just > in case I see something. When I first saw the bird was all white from a > distance, my heart raced a little. Immediate first thought was bald eagle > because I've seen some there before. Then when I realized it was all white > when it flew I started having crazy thoughts (possible snowy owl in > April??). But the body shape and size were all wrong for a Snowy so then I > was extremely confused as to what this bird might be. Well it finally > lands on tree and I walk closer. As soon as it landed, I saw it had a mate > and I recognized the mate immediately.. Red-Tailed Hawk. So when I finally > got my binos on the bird, I couldn't believe it. I've never seen anything > like this in my life before. I've only been birding for about 2 years but > still this was crazy. I asked my girlfriend to stay with the bird and keep > an eye on it if possible. I ran a mile home, grabbed my scope and > digiscope for my phone to take pictures. I ran all the way back, > thankfully the hawk was still there. I get it set up, and I actually get > some decent pictures. About a minute after I got my pictures, the hawk flew > away and my phone died. Great timing!! The only marking the bird was was > 1 dot on the back of its head, 1 dot on its shoulder, and about 1/4 of its > tail was actually the normal red. That's about it. On another note, I did > see a different RTHA and a Great Horned Owl have a full on battle for about > 15 seconds in the air. It was a pretty crazy unexpected bird night. > > If anyone thinks this might be ultra rare and I should send it to someone > important, please let me know. I did google and see that other people have > seen this before but only about once or maybe twice a year in a different > parts of the country. I actually found last night that someone had posted > about a leucistic RTHA in north Denver but it was 10 years ago! I wonder if > this is an offspring or possibly the same bird. Pretty amazing!. > > Also if anyone wants to go attempt seeing the hawk, this RTHA along with > its mate were in the large field just north of the park where Big Dry Creek > runs through. I was on the back 9 baskets playing disk golf when I spotted > it. > > > [image: IMG_8492.jpg] > > [image: IMG_8486.jpg] > > [image: IMG_8483.jpg] > > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/8aea0415-9401-4575-a767-66417cd1676c%40googlegroups.com.
