possible gyrfalcon

[Caitlin Majlinger]

My son and I  were playing golf at Legacy Ridge golf course in Westminster this afternoon. On the back nine of the course we observed a large nearly pure white raptor with no visible markings several times. It flew around the course perching on power poles, houses and in trees, sometimes flying low over the fairways. The closest we got to it was about 200 yards. We didn't have binos but we watched it repeatedly with a 5x golf range finder (a monocular). I've seen many prairie falcons and peregrine falcons. This bird appeared to be a falcon, heavier bodied than a prairie or peregrine falcon. It had long wide pointed wings and a longish tail. It flew with slower wing beats than a smaller falcon. I realize how rare gyrfalcons are in Colorado, but I can't imagine what else this could have been.  

If you live in the area, please be on the lookout for this bird, and if anyone should see it and is able to confirm the ID, please reply to this post. Thanks!

[Jessi Oberbeck]

There is a almost pure white red-tailed hawk that lives here and has for aboit 12 years.   We've all done that!

Jessi Oberbeck
Westminster, CO

On Apr 1, 2016 8:09 PM, "Caitlin Majlinger" <caitlin....@gmail.com> wrote:

My son and I  were playing golf at Legacy Ridge golf course in Westminster this afternoon. On the back nine of the course we observed a large nearly pure white raptor with no visible markings several times. It flew around the course perching on power poles, houses and in trees, sometimes flying low over the fairways. The closest we got to it was about 200 yards. We didn't have binos but we watched it repeatedly with a 5x golf range finder (a monocular). I've seen many prairie falcons and peregrine falcons. This bird appeared to be a falcon, heavier bodied than a prairie or peregrine falcon. It had long wide pointed wings and a longish tail. It flew with slower wing beats than a smaller falcon. I realize how rare gyrfalcons are in Colorado, but I can't imagine what else this could have been.  

If you live in the area, please be on the lookout for this bird, and if anyone should see it and is able to confirm the ID, please reply to this post. Thanks!

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