No Gyr Saturday 8 Dec

Derek Hill

unread,

Dec 8, 2019, 11:37:47 AM12/8/19

to Colorado Birds

No Gyrfalcon sighting from 8:30-10:00am yesterday 8 December. At least 5 other cars of seekers were spotted, including a cool gyrfalcon license plate. A small number of Red-tails and Kestrels were in the area, and a flyby Prairie Falcon was near CR 57 and Taft Hill Road nearby two days previous.

Scoping the gulls from west Trilby yesterday, at least one or two adult Lesser Black-backed were obvious both in flight and on the geound, as well as at least one first-year Iceland type. The silvery wingtips and uniform pale brown-gray plumage were visible, and even at rest, the primaries were concolorous with the upperparts. I guess a pale Thayers type or possibly Kumleini. One of these days I'll drive into the landfill proper and study the gulls up close.

Good luck to all who chase the legendary Gyrfalcon. It seems to wander quite unpredictably.

Also, in the series of photos linked by G. Lefko recently, is this supposed to be the same bird/date in the series of photos? In particular, images 5-8 appear very different in underparts plumage from image 3. Hard to reconcile this as a matter of image exposure.

Image 3:
http://www.friendsofthepawneegrassland.org/albums/photos/view/59/542/gyrfalcon

Image 5:
http://www.friendsofthepawneegrassland.org/albums/photos/view/59/2270/gyrfalcon

Good birding,
Derek Hill
Loveland