In the sky over Hackettstown
One of my coworkers told me this morning that she spotted a big white bird that was not an egret and it had big talons. Guessed right it was an albino turkey vulture in the hatchery. We have a large roost of black vultures and a few TV's. That is where the UPS store's birds come from. They roost on the big power line towers on Route 57 near Home Depot. We thought it might have been injured as it was acting strangely, but the last time I saw it around 3pm it was in a thermal up high heading towards Lowes. Keep an eye out it would be neat to have it stay in the area. We were in touch with Raptor Trust and they had a few reports of it around.
fishmaker1 
jersey dutchman 2 
Jams 
Rebecka I second the WOW!! I will definitely keep my eyes open for a glimpse of this rare sight! Thanks for posting the pics, fishmaker1
Iris 
Spring Fever
Rich 
Coach Cool. I thought I saw somehting like this the other day and thought it was a seagull but didnt get a good look I was driving. Thats cool............
Christine Great pictures! Does Audubon Society know about this bird. I had no idea there were albino vultures.
Millie 
Caged Animal I emailed them onto NJ Audubon, Raptor Trust and National TV Society just to see what they had to say about it.
Thanks everyone for the comments on the pics it was a great day plus had a loon also and last week a pie billed grebe.
Firefly Question: I lived in Htown for years and now in Phila. and I have never seen a bluebird. Plenty of Blue Jays of course, but never a bluebird. Has anyone seen any in the Htown area or in natural setting of the hatchery area?
BobR. wow great pics! never saw an Albino Vulture. I wonder how rare this is?? Thanks so much or sharing that!
bklyngirl1 
Calico696 BobR. - I have never seen a bluebird in Hackettstown, but when my brother lived in Blairstown he had a lot of them in his backyard. From what I understand they like open fields and he lived right in front of a farm.
Aquarius BobR Lots of bluebirds at both hatcheries. They do like the open area, not wooded. From what I gather the albino Turkey Vulture is pretty rare, not many on Google. It was only here in the hatchery for one day so far and I have been keeping my eye out. Hope it surfaces again locally so more people can enjoy it. Great to see so many people on the forum into nature. Seems like way to many NJ folks just in to big a hurry to slow down and check it out.
if you think albino turkey buzzards are interesting...you should see an albino deer..they are rare and flukes...but they turn up every so often
oldman My property backs up to the Hatchery. Saw a couple of pairs of bluebirds this Spring, but nothing since.
Copygirl 
We have also been on the "hunt" for the albino vulture - we did find a roosting area and counted over 80 vultures/buzzards! No sign of the albino though.
Blue Birds have made a significant comeback to the area these past few years. Many parks have bluebird trails and nesting reports. Where I work we have nearly 40 blue bird houses. Currently, the box I monitor has three blue bird eggs.
The Raptor Trust has an albino ROBIN in their care - her name is Pearl.
Thanks for the update fishmaker - we always look forward to your posts about the hatchery and wildlife reports.
dragonfly In 1977 Junius Birchard of Hackettstown began a campaign to bring back the bluebird in NJ. He gave many talks, especially to school children, and suppled materials and building instructions at cost for nesting houses to attract the birds. He is credited with greatly helping save the bluebirds and with teaching children how they can personally make a difference. Mr. Birchard was my American history teacher at West Morris Regional High School in 1958. I remember him as a good teacher and nice person.
We have bluebirds, they are on their second set of babies. When I go out and whistle, in they come for their mealworms. They love the bird bath. This morning one came and sat in front of the kitchen window, like well where's breakfast.
4paws Yes Caged, lots of redtails. We have a nesting pair that fledges 2 or 3 young every year right by our main building. It is awesome to watch them grow up. They help to control our goose population. There were over 100 vultures on the big tower along 57 last night but no albino. I will keep you posted if it shows back up.
We had a set of bluebird babies in our back yard. When the parents made a new nest, other birds chased them away.
PAM,
Other birds chased who away - the parents, or the babies? What other birds?
We had a bluebird house in our back yard. There were 2 babies in it. The day the parents planned to fly them away, the mother bird tried to dive bomb me 6 times. We had left for an hour. When we returned, the nest was empty. We cleaned out the birdhouse since it was messy inside and out. When the parents came back to build a new nest about 2 weeks later, wrens tried to build their nest inside also. I cleaned out the few twigs and left the box open for awhile. Then after closing it, the bluebirds came back and built their nest. But then the English sparrows chased the bluebirds away. I chased those birds away. The bluebirds never returned.
A few years ago, we had 2 bluebird houses on the edge of a field. Barn swallows took over one nest.
There are plenty of bird houses in the area, wth the English sparrows using most of them. Other bird houses are left empty.
I know that wrens will build a few nests and only use one. We once had Carolina wrens build 2 nests side by side in the underpart of a boat canvas at the wench. They also only use one. It seemed like they were there forever. We never saw signs of babies or eggs. At present we have bluejays nesting in a tree next to our house. They spend their time chasing away squirrels and other bluejays.
Thanks Pam for the very detailed narrative. Nature as chaotic struggle.
Years ago I never saw bluebirds but now I see them somewhat regularly at the riverfront park. Have even seen them on College View.
Hey fishmaker - have you noticed the dead mink (???) on Grand Ave near the bridge (its on your right heading out of Hacketstown between Fifth Ave and College View Drive).
Dragonfly, thanks for pointing that out. Checked it out today while I was mowing up there. Definitely a mink, but it has been dead for awhile. Such a shame. There does seem to be a pretty healthy population around the hatchery this year. Maybe a young one that strayed out to far. Still lots of vultures but the albino has not been back. Looks like the geese have their flight feathers back. I saw a big flock landing just at dark tonight. Anybody seeing any baby turkeys in their yards? We have a pile of adults, but no polts.
fishmaker, FYI... not sure if you noticed a large tree came down two days ago and took a section of fence down along the Robins ct side. Just be warned it is covered in poison ivy.
Also are you familiar with what the animals are that are fighting and screaming like babies in the hatchery at night? I've heard the fox in the past and racoons and baby deer but this is something new..
Thanks Mr. Chevy. I was mowing along the fence yesterday and had to turn around at the tree. I sent my crew up there today with the snips and chainsaw and they cleared it. It was definitely covered in poison ivy, luckily those two guys are not alleregic. We are going to work on some of those small holes along there very soon. We are trying to work on a excess runoff issue at our back gate there so we can get the tractor in there. Not sure what all the screaming would be. If I had to guess I would say fox eating baby rabbits. There seems to be a bunch of rabbits around and I know they make a horrible baby screaming noise when stressed. Definitely make you jump out of bed wondering what was up. We spotted some fresh beaver activity in Trout Brook today the place is thriving with stuff any more.
Thanks for the heads up
fishmaker
You're welcome. You guys work fast. Great job! I was going to try and help you out but saw the poison ivy and said.. nah... :) Thanks for addressing the holes as well. Not long back I saw a few young kids sneak in there and was worried someone might get hurt.
Speaking of trout brook. Are you familiar with an old house that once stood further down trout brook( Probably about where your building now stands)? I have seen it on an old postcard along with a spring house on trout brook and was wondering if it was something from the old Centenary lake days or even way back when this area was a 500 or such acre farm. I was curious if there were any remnants of it or the spring house left. I know the path along the fence where the tree fell used to be a gravel lane that passed the two older houses here and went back to the house I saw in the photo.
Thanks again!
see a movie here weird sounds a fish hatchery a evil worker breeds half fish half man care full out by thr hatchery
I'm amazed to hear about minks and beavers. I consider myself pretty observant, but have never seen either of those.
Mink in the Hatchery, I would like to see that too. I lived over in PA in Palmerton for awhile and was fishing a stream that emptied into the Lehigh River. Didn't get into the stream for awhile as there was a mink on the opposite shore and decided to give it space ... interesting to watch too, I was hardly a blip on his radar. Also up farther on the Lehigh (fishing again) saw river beavers, that was different.
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Not to fan the flames but did you folks see this article on the mountain lion: http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20110728/SPORTS/107280395/Outdoors-Connecticut-lion-wanderer?odyssey=nav|head
So if we have spotters in NJ that swear that's what they saw, well there you go. Perhaps the NJ Fish Game etc. is technically correct by saying that mountain lions "don't live here" ... splittin' them hairs. :)
redmink1 
Unbelievable! Draining a walleye pond around lunch time today someone in my crew said whats that little white bird. It looked like an albino swallow. After work I grabbed my camera and tried to get some pics. They are fast, erratic fliers. Not sure if it is a tree or barn swallow. Hopefully it will hang around till tomorrow. Crazy with the albinos this year.
Amazing photographs of a highly unusual subject. Definitely worth submitting to publications. Kudos on capturing in-focus, in-flight shots of such a fast-moving bird!! You would not believe the number of pros who don't have swallow or swift photos, because they are so quick.
And fishmaker - just saw your question about turkey poults. We have had a flock of turkeys with many poults on our property this year. We watched them grow up! They make the rounds out back by our pond.
fishmaker, I _ALWAYS_ look forward to your posts! Your photos are amazing. What are you shooting with?
Is it a "flock" of turkeys? I think Pap taught me way back when that a group of turkeys was a "rafter", but maybe I'm remembering it wrong...
iPhone-imal fishmaker - Those are lovely pictures! Better put some identification on them before someone grabs them and does what Rebecka mentioned.
Fishmaker - see any more interesting animals lately? I've been waiting on an albino muskrat or something. ;-)
Your pics are really wonderful - please keep 'em coming.
Hey Dragonfly,
Thanks for checking out my pictures. I am using a Nikon D300 with an 80-400 lens. I have had some decent luck with medium range bird stuff. I shoot a bunch of sports stuff also and it does pretty good there. As always if you have the light you are good to go.
Rebecka, I do enjoy posting once in awhile on here. I should be working on the copyright stuff, but never find the time. Barely find the time to take pictures. If I see anything cool I will post. Some fall migration has started. Seeing some of the small hawks showing up.
No albino this time, but a cool bird for the area. I was mowing in Alumni Field off Willow Grove Street around the ponds and spotted a Glossy Ibis feeding in the shallow ponds on the left when you drive in. Took some pictures this evening after work in not so good lighting. If any come out I will post them later if the storm lets me out of the hatchery. Hope to get some better pics tomorrow. Check it out if you get a chance.
we've had blue birds nesting in our box in the back yard in H'town for the past few years!
pmnsk fishmaker - really nice sighting...I have been a "regular" at Alumni Field for many years, and have seen lots of interesting wildlife in the ponds, trees, and woods...but never a glossy ibis. I think I'm a bit jealous! Thanks for posting.
I think the Ibis is still hanging around there and the albino barn swallow is still over at the west hatchery behind Centenary. He can be seen midday cruising the fields around Hatchery Hill or the High School. If anyone is mowing grass he is sure to be dive bombing the mower feeding on insects. I heard the other day that the albino Turkey Vulture has been seen in the Newton area.
Glad you got to see it dragonfly. Todays sightings are a snipe and a tern, not sure what kind of tern yet. With this storm it could be interesting what gets driven inland.
Not an albino sighting...but this seemed like the right thread to post this article
http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2011/11/snowy_owl_spotted_in_harmony_t.html
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