My wife and I birded the auto tour route at Ridgefield NWR (River 'S' unit) on Sunday, midday. The most intriguing bird was a white morph buteo watched in the mowed field behind the entrance kiosk. At least I think it was a buteo. My guess is that it was a white morph juvenile Red Tail Hawk of some sort. The back contained more white mottling than a typical juvenile Red Tail, though I thought I could still make out a 'V' pattern. When in flight I thought the tail had the typical juvenile Red Tail patterning. Pure white feathering began at the chin and extended down to some scattered brown streaking on the very lower belly, approaching the vent. This bird made several short, low flights but mostly stayed on the ground in the large mowed grass field. I was unable to see the underwing. There were a number of other birders around but no one felt confident of the species.
Has anyone else seen this bird? Any comments?

Ed Kane