Peregrine (??) at the Condo (%)

The "falcon" returned the following morning - and was eating a freakin GULL (of all things) on the NE corner of the nearby building...

I've boiled down the responses I've received from my last post/photos (thanks to everyone who commented)... The summary is "It's a Peregrine, you idiot"...

I can't disagree that I was wrong for barking up the Gyrfalcon tree... It's not right. But I continue to have some issue with the thought that this is a "normal" Peregrine. Seeing it the following morning, I still didn't look and think "Peregrine"... While everyone makes mistakes, I do like to think I'm pretty good with Peregrines - and given that this is my ~65th Peregrine sighting since moving to the condo in late 2012...

Anyways, here's the new series of photos from day 2 (haven't seen it since)..

It's really big

It's an odd gray/brown colour

the breast/belly streaking is odd

the helmet pattern is mostly "moustache stripes"

has odd pale markings on the top of its head

wings seem abnormally long and thin (??)



I pulled out a few more images from day 1 (cell phone + scope) - but they don't add a whole lot:

So in the end, I am horribly outnumbered in the "not a normal Peregrine camp" - so i'll probably just let this one fade away... Just one last time (unless it returns) I'll say "No - not a Gyrfalcon, but maybe not a "normal" Peregrine?"

As always, comments appreciated. Be sure to watch this video on full screen/youtube for a better impression of how it looked. (Same video as the top). 

Gyrfalcon (?) at the condo (!)

Early this morning, my lovely lady friend informed me of a big falcon sitting on the nearby condo building - as I lazily rolled around the bed and decidedly not helping with anything...

I eventually got up to take a peek, and this beastly boy was staring back at me. Despite the point-blank views at 40x in my scope (virtually eye level) - I just couldn't quite say what it was. 

I've seen some pretty odd/goofy looking adult and sub-adult Peregrine's in my day. And I also know that falconers occasionally lose crazy hybrids. But it kinda looked like a Gyrfalcon? 

The wings seemed a bit too long, and it really had a Peregrine-Like "helmet" look to it... But it still kinda looked like a Gyrfalcon?

I did what I do best, and started taking a lot of photos. The camera couldn't handle the temperature differences and heat shimmer of the building nearly as well as the scope - so I can't quite share the bird in all of its glory - but you get the idea. 

I've only seen maybe 15 Gyrfalcons in my life, which is not nearly enough (in general), never mind trying to get a handle on all of the variation they show. As far as I can tell, it's an adult - and a "gray morph" - but quite heavily marked for a "gray" bird. And as previously mentioned - a male. 

So all told, I'm thinking it's a legit Gyrfalcon - just a rather Peregrine-looking Gyrfalcon. The overall colour, belly markings and underwing pattern all look quite good for Gyr. Thanks to the magic of digital photography, I present 44 photos below so you can decide for yourself --- or you could even put on your *expert* cap and leave a comment below shedding light on the ID!

It eventually flew east towards Fifty Point CA. Here's hoping it returns. It pooped several times, so seems to be feeding well!