Spring is definitely in the air, even if it is a long way off. This weekend saw temperatures of -15C and it seemed like an ideal day on Sunday to take a quick trip out to the St George's Society Cliffs to check on the Gyrfalcons.
One bird, I assume the male as he is the whiter of the pair, was at the aerie when I arrived. I couldn't see a second bird, but I also didn't spend a bunch of time looking. It may be the male staking claim to the nest site and she hasn't arrived yet, or she may have been off hunting, or she may have been somewhere on the snow spotted cliffs and I missed her.
At any rate it was spectacular as always to see these birds. After holding one in my hands last fall, I'm now amazed at how tiny such a large bird appears, a testiment to how much higher up they are then one would think.
Here is the obligatory record shot.
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Again I am filled with the wonder of the Arctic and the beings who make it home, or travel vast distances there from far south to produce their next generation. I have yet to see a white/light Gyr.
I saw a grey phased Gyrfalcon in Greenland. But apart from that all the ones I have seen are white phased. Our Gyrfalcons may be year round residents. We have had credible sightings here in December and January, which defies conventional wisdom.