Yesterday, May 15, on the Yakima County Migration Count, Michael Duffy from
New York City and I found an albino Red-tailed Hawk just south of Giffin
Lake on the Sunnyside Wildlife Rec. Area five miles south of Sunnyside, WA,
on page 27 of the DeLorme atlas.

We initially saw the hawk perched at quite a distance. It flew from one
tree to another shortly after we first saw it. We were able to approach for
a closer look of just over a quarter of a mile or so. The beak and legs
were yellow. When seen perched, the hawk showed a slight hint of rufous at
the end, perhaps two inches, of the tail but the rest of the bird was all
white. There was not a single feather-edge on that bird that was not white
other than the end of the tail.

We looked through the scope at the hawk from several different locations as
we walked around the ponds that were between us and its perch. It stayed
perched for about twenty minutes.

We were watching when it finially flew and watched it for over five minutes
as it soared over the area. When it was flying we could see the barest hint
of the rufous on the end of the tail.

We identified it as a Red-tailed Hawk by its shape - definately a buteo -
and the habitat. No other buteo would be found in this type of habitat. We
considered the possiblity of it being a Eurasian Ghost Hawk but we felt they
do not show the slight hint of rufous on the tip of the tail.

It was an incredible bird. If you would like directions, please e-mail me
directly or call at 509-453-2500.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA

Denny Granstrand