Gyrfalcon!

Well, this was a nice start to the 2012 Bird List!  A white Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) on top of some old strip-mining overburden piles (in a way, I hope these piles aren't reclaimed and levelled off into rolling hills - this will be the only time anyone ever hears me say such a thing.)

See it, way up there?

Warning:  fuzz-zee photo.  I did not have a tripod but I also wouldn't have had time to set-up.  We didn't know how long this bird would perch.  I think this is a juvenile white-morph, but the vote is still a little bit out among my fellow birder Guy Wapple (and fellow-sighter of this bird) and some of his pals. 

The Gyr is the largest falcon; a stocky bird, about 22 inches in length, with a wing-span of 47".  It is a very strong, swift flier, with slow wing-beats.  

Falcons use their large powerful feet to knock prey out of the air and/or otherwise disable.  Falcons have notched beaks (you can sort of see that in this pic) which enables them to sever or crush the neck vertebrae of their prey. 

Gyrs are Arctic breeders, nesting on scrapes on the ground.  Some come south in winter, as you can see.  In summer, they feed mostly on ptarmigans.  Down here, this one will be looking for Sharp-tailed Grouse, Ring-necked Pheasants, and ducks.  We have many, many ducks on the open water at Boundary.  It won't go hungry.

This is only my third Gyrfalcon (pronounced GER-falcon)  I posted about a juvy grey-morph here http://stilllifewithbirder.blogspot.com/2010/10/gyrfalcon-kind-of-day.html

Info on Gyrfalcons:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gyrfalcon/id/ac
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrfalcon

A Gyrfalcon Kind of Day

This is a juvenile Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)

Gyrfalcons....well, this was another of my nemesis birds, until a couple Winters ago when I saw a grey-morph adult Gyr sitting on a power pole along Fisherman's Road, west of Estevan.  That one sat only long enough for me to have a look with the bins.  But, as all birders know, it was long enough. 

This is the (edited) email exchange today between Guy Wapple (birder friend and one of the people I sent my pix to for confirmation) and I.

Me:  Is this a juv Gyr?
Guy:  I would say definitely say YES!!!  Is the jinx over?  Story please.....
Me:  ...my second Gyr. This, however, will really take over as my major sighting so far.  Good thing there wasn't a lot of traffic on #18 between Torquay and Outram, because I must have been the strangest vehicle on the road in a long time.  While ambling back to Estevan... I saw a raptor on a power pole ahead....I was on alert for migrants...so I drove up slowly, had the camera ready and snapped this photo before I looked with the binocs.  Bird flew on 3-4 poles.  A truck passed me, the bird flew back in the other direction, I turned around, met another truck, caught up with the bird again pole-sitting, this went on (back and forth) twice more, with me being more and more convinced of the Gyr Factor (and people who may have been watching, of the Nut Factor).  Finally the bird got sick and tired of me and flew off across the field to the south of the highway. 

Edward Brinkley's NWF Field Guide to Birds of North America, says:

Gyrfalcon is a relatively rare raptor of Arctic habitats; it only occasionally leaves the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska.  It hunts birds as large as geese, usually simply by chasing them down.  The world's largest falcon, it averages twice as heavy as Peregrine Falcon.  The species varies in color, from white to very dark brown birds.  Most adults in North America are lead gray above, and juveniles are medium brown above.