Dark phase gyrfalcon - Kennebunk

[Shiloh]

Dark phased gyrfalcon eating a ring billed gull in the middle of the field on Park Street in Kennebunk. Pictures to follow. 7:39 still present. Fended off a red tailed hawk.

[Doug Hitchcox]

The bird was seen in some spruces south of Parsons Field until about 9:25. We moved to get a better view and the falcon left without us noticing. No sign of it now.

Good birding,


Doug Hitchcox

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 13, 2015, at 7:40 AM, Shiloh <shiloh....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dark phased gyrfalcon eating a ring billed gull in the middle of the field on Park Street in Kennebunk. Pictures to follow. 7:39 still present. Fended off a red tailed hawk.
>

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[Shiloh]

I cruised the neighborhood, but could not relocate the Gyr. I will post if I see her again. Photos are here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48887026@N08/sets/72157647943472264

Cheers,

Shiloh

[Mike Fahay]

Shiloh;
Fantastic series of photos.  Thanks for sharing.
Mike

[Paul Wells]

Breathtaking! Hope it hangs around for awhile!

--

================================================================
Paul F. Wells
West Kennebunk, ME
USA

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
                                                             --Albert Schweitzer

[Sharon F.]

Wonderful photos-how lucky to have such a stately hawk in our little corner of the state!!!Thanks for the posting and photos...Sharon in West K'bunk

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Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 10:27:09 -0800
From: shiloh....@gmail.com
To: maine...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [Maine-birds] Dark phase gyrfalcon - Kennebunk

[Shiloh Schulte]

Hi Scott, thanks for the link. I didn't know about the Madbury sighting, but
looking at the photos I agree that it looks like the same bird.

Cheers,

Shiloh

-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Spangenberg [mailto:sjspan...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 5:05 PM
To: Shiloh
Cc: Maine Birds
Subject: Re: [Maine-birds] Dark phase gyrfalcon - Kennebunk

This looks a lot like the dark morph Gyrfalcon that was photographed
December 15 in Madbury, NH (and possibly seen again at the waste water
treatment plant in Rochester, NH).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40298884@N06/16031635442/in/photostream/

Scott Spangenberg
Amherst, NH

[Andrew Aldrich]

What is the eating habits of this bird? Do they kill and eat each day or do
they eat and rest and fly around for 2 or 3 days before they kill again? Can
this be a tool for gaging when he will be on the move again, versus sitting
in a tree?

Happy birding
Andy Aldrich
North Berwick

[Scott Spangenberg]

This looks a lot like the dark morph Gyrfalcon that was photographed December 15 in Madbury, NH (and possibly seen again at the waste water treatment plant in Rochester, NH).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40298884@N06/16031635442/in/photostream/

Scott Spangenberg
Amherst, NH

> On Jan 13, 2015, at 1:27 PM, Shiloh <shiloh....@gmail.com> wrote:
>

[Stephen Ingraham]

I saw what looks very like the bird in the NH photos and your photos at Parson's beach yesterday. However...there were two men out in the marsh, and one was definitely slinging a lure. I assumed the bird was hacked...a falconer's bird. ???

[Stephen Ingraham]

I saw what certainly looked like this same bird, and the bird in the NH photos, in the trees along the road into Parson's Beach yesterday. However, there were two men, well out in the marsh, and one was definitely slinging a lure. I assumed at the time that this was a falconer's bird. ???

On Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 7:40:13 AM UTC-5, Shiloh wrote:

[Shiloh]

Hi Stephen, there are a few falconers in the area, and at least one uses peregrines to hunt the marshes between Wells and Portland. They also use Red-tails, Coopers, Goshawks, and Sharpies, but to my knowledge nobody in the area is working with a Gyrfalcon. The bird I saw had no jesses or bands. Also, no falconer :). Cheers,

Shiloh