MOU-RBA Archives

November 2015

MOU-RBA@LISTS.UMN.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Dave and Jean Matheny <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Dave and Jean Matheny <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 2 Nov 2015 20:28:31 -0700
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (56 lines)
That looks like a gyr to me (a falconer). I looked for signs of any gear on 
the bird (telemetry, jesses), but I can't see any, at least not in this 
position.

Jean Matheny

-----Original Message----- 
From: Josh Wallestad
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2015 9:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [mou-net] Possible Gyrfalcon--Kandiyohi County

Today, 2 November, as I traveled west on Kandiyohi CR 19, there was a large
raptor perched on a pole.  Initially I thought it was just one of the
ubiquitous Red-tailed Hawks in the area, but as I drove by, the GISS for
Red-tail was off, way off.  I stopped to take a look.  I was struck by the
heavy streaking on the breast.  Coupled with the bird's large size, I
thought I might be dealing with a juvenile Northern Goshawk, so I proceeded
to take lots of photos.  I looked at my photos and compared them to photos
of juvenile Goshawks, and they weren't a match.  Then it dawned on me that
the face looked kind of like a Peregrine Falcon.  I just assumed it was a
juvenile Peregrine (the most probable) and posted it as such in the Facbook
Group, MN Heartland Birding+.  Bob Dunlap questioned me on the bird's size
because he was not getting a Peregrine impression and said the gray cheek
and weak mustache was leading him toward the Gyrfalcon.

I posted all of my uncropped photos on a separate page on my blog, A Boy
Who Cried Heron.  You can access that page and the photos by clicking this
direct link:

http://www.aboywhocriedheron.com/falcon-photos/

Gyr had not even entered my mind as a remote possibility.  If it had, I
would have worked for more photos and better photos.  Regarding the
behavior of the bird, it never flushed during the three or four times I
drove by it and stopped to take pictures.  I came back out about 45 minutes
later, and the bird was not there.  This was about 3 miles east of US 71,
just SE of Willmar.

I'd love for some experts to weigh in on this.

Josh Wallestad

----
Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net
Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html 


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

----
Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net
Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html

ATOM RSS1 RSS2