Hello everyone!

Yesterday at Hawk Ridge, I got to hold and release a Gyrfalcon, and boy was
she huge! In all birds of prey, the female is larger than the male. The
girth and density of holding that bird was just, wow... I was crying inside
while holding her, and could not believe how strong and pretty she was. Keep
an eye out for rarities with this fantastic early-October cold front moving
through :)

Aside from the rarer Swainson's Hawk and Red-shouldered Hawk, we had every
regular raptor species at the ridge yesterday, including an osprey that Karl
Bardon found towards the end of the day!

Here's a link to my Hawk Ridge photos so far. There is a Northern Goshawk
photo in there, as well as the photo of a flying Peregrine Falcon
carrying/potentially eating a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/hawk_ridge_2009_gallery

Also one other little note, I'm going to be counting raptors in Veracruz
this spring. I can't wait!!!

Hope all of you are doing great! Good birdwatching,

Erik Bruhnke
Duluth, MN

[log in to unmask]
www.pbase.com/birdfedr

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