9/25 UPDATE: Brian Wheeler and John Economidy have examined the images
and both comment the field marks indicate this is a peregrine, not a gyr.
John Econimidy notes:
| |
"To be specific, I would call
it a hatching year Arctic Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
tundrius. It may even be one of the foreign breeds that were
introduced into the Eastern U.S., e.g. plate 575 on page 500 of
Wheeler's Raptors of Western North America.
Key photo to me is Atch 10, # 8865. The underwing remiges, or
flight feathers, are uniformly marked, as in Plates 572 and 575
on pages 499-500,
Wheeler's Raptors of Western North America. A Gyrfalcon would
not
have such uniform marking on the underwing remiges, as in plates
584 and 591 on pages 514 and 516 of Wheeler's Raptors of Western
North America.
To me, the mylar mark on the face looks more like Arctic
Peregrine than a Gyrfalcon. I also was struck by the suggestion
of blond (rather than white) on the head in some shots which I
recall seeing on a number of Arctic Peregrines passing through
Cape May Point, NJ when I visited the watch there in the early
1980s.
The apparent hump of a Gyrfalcon, mentioned under "Species
Traits" for a Gyrfalcon on page 502 of Wheeler's Raptors of
Western North America, is suggested on photo # 8858. However,
upon reflection, I suggest the appearance of the hump may be
more illusionary than real, as caused by angle and perhaps
winglifting the feathers.
It is the wrong time of the year for a Gyrfalcon. The geography
is way, way off.
One other item. I blew up each photo. I did not see any bands or
jesses.
By federal regulation, falconers must band any Peregrine or
Gyrfalcon." |
Brian Wheeler (Wheeler's Raptors of
Western North America) reviewed the photos as well, and says:
| |
"Agree. A peregrine not a
gyrfalcon. I do not like gestalt appearances, I like pure field
markings such as shown clearly on the full, close underside
image. Darker Gyrfalcon juveniles do show a two-toned underwing with
darker coverts; however, the uniformly marked remiges are ONLY
found on peregrines." |
Thanks so much, John and Brian!!
|
|
9/24 field report by Clay Taylor:
Hi all -
OK, I have sent the images to Patty Beasley, and as soon as they are
posted up on the CC Birding website, we will let you know.
In the meantime, we are all walking around shaking our heads in
amazement, breaking out in silly grins and fist-bumping.
At about 2:05 pm CDT, Libby Evan called out a large raptor, flying
relatively low and heading toward the Hazel Bazemore Hawk Platform.
The skies were lead-gray, and it was spitting rain. We had just
endured a passing rain shower, and when I naked-eye saw the bird
approaching, I grabbed my spotting scope out from under the roof and
set it out on the deck, then attached the Pentax D-SLR.
As the bird approached, it was obviously a large falcon - pointed
wings, shallow wingbeat, squared tail. Against the sky, and through
the viewfinder of the camera, the bird appeared VERY dark, and I
even commented on that as we made sure the 25+ hawkwatchers got on
the bird. At this time, there was no reason to call it anything
other than an immature Peregrine, and we had seen a gorgeous adult
PG just a few minutes earlier. My first frame was taken at 2:06:12
pm.
It came in to the East of the platform, then slowed down as the hill
rose up from the river lowlands to our viewing site. It was probably
200 yards away by then, but was still small in my viewfinder at an
effective 1200mm (24x). I shot 12 frames as it was flapping, then
reversing its course and looping once around to continue on past the
platform, and behind the roofline from my view. Frames 8851 to 8862
Since I was busy making sure the focus and framing were correct, I
did not really look closely at the bird's proportions, etc.
I looked over at Dane Ferrell - he was talking about the bird's
size, and he clearly was puzzled by what he saw.
Within 10 or 15 seconds, the bird evidently doubled back, because it
passed right over the Hawk Platform, no more than 100 feet up, and I
shouted to everybody even as I was getting the scope and camera
aimed at it. It did one loop above us (or "ring", if you prefer)
frame 8865 and then set its wings and headed straight down toward
the pond on the west side of the park frame 8868. It accelerated
down to the surface of the pond, crossed the road about 10 feet up,
rose up and then flipped down after something in the wet area on the
other side of the road. Its momentum took it about 30 feet up, and
it immediately turned over again to swoop at a Black-necked Stilt.
By this time I was trying to get my scope refocused on the bird and
pick it up in the viewfinder. As soon as I did, I saw that the
bird's underwings were light & dark - the primaries were noticeably
lighter than the underwing coverts. At that point, it was trying to
get the Stilt, which was ducking underwater as the falcon dove on
it, and I was trying to get photos of the wings. My mind flashed
back to a Christmas bird Count in CT years ago, when I saw a big,
dark Gyrfalcon literally rip a Ring-billed Gull out of the skies -
this was Yogi Berra's "deja-vu all over again"! Frames 8869 to 8876
I started yelling about the wing pattern and Dane was yelling that
this was too big, dark, and powerful to be a Peregrine - I don't
know who said the "G-word" first, but it was definitely said loudly
and with a great deal of enthusiasm, and possibly with some colorful
epithets thrown in. ;-)
After five or six unsuccessful forays at the now wet but still alive
Stilt, the bird gained altitude, looped north Frame 8880 and then
flew off to the southwest, passing over the golf course and gone. My
last shot was at 2:07:46 pm.
By that point we were all wildly waving our arms, talking very
loudly, and wondering if we were part of a mass hallucination
incident. There were no hippies smoking funny cigarettes under the
platform, and as soon as I recalled the images on the camera's LCD
screen, it started to sink in - we had seen a Gyrfalcon in the
Coastal Bend!
The photos showed no jesses on the bird's legs, and no bands on the
tarsi. Jesses would have been easily seen during the first pass and
the close overhead passage. The bird was very dark, with heavy
streaking underneath. The tail was massive, and it used it like a
rudder when it was diving at the Stilt. The wingshape was wide and
blunt at the tip, especially when it was circling.
I went back to my house to download the images, crop them and try to
adjust the brightness / contrast to show the bird's details. None of
the photos was altered for color, and no editing was done for dust
removal. I did apply unsharp-mask to a few images, and a little
noise reduction to a few others, but those changes seemed to do
little to the final image.
That's a VERY hard way to have a four-falcon day, eh?
-- Clay Taylor |
