possible Ferruginous Hawk at Wheatridge Greenbelt

[dgulb...@gmail.com]

Midday today  a mile west of Kipling.  I know it seems prohibitively unlikely,

and I'm afraid I told a couple of passers-by that this unusually large bird with the

pure white breast and belly  had to be a Red-Tail, since they are the only ones around the city in winter.  But now that I'm home, remembering the "impossible" Black Vulture I

saw a few years back in the Greenbelt (confirmed by others), and looking at lots of photos, I think it likely was.  The size of its open wings was simply stunning. If you looked really

hard, the tail had the faintest tinge of pink.  Unfortunately I completely forgot to look at

his thighs.  

The Hogback hawk-watch starts looking for Ferruges in 3 1/2 weeks, but possibly 

our extremely mild January has caused some early movement!

I wonder whether anybody else will see one.

David Gulbenkian

Jefferson County