Nice shots Gyro. I'm not an ornithologist..but have been a birder for over forty years...therefore I'm 99.999% sure you've got an adult Red-tailed Hawk there. Very common for that part of the country and fairly easy to ID due to spots on the stomach area, often referred to a "belly-band". Juvenile birds have spots as well but no where near as well defined as the adult in your pic.
bobbycorno, you are correct about different variations. There are several different color morphs and sub-species that range from very dark to very, very light. The one in the photo is how most eastern birds appear but in the West and Great Plains states you start to see more variation.