Hi fellow birders, I reported two gray-phased Gyrfalcon on the St. Mary's River today, in Sault Ste. Marie around noon hour. My report indicated that both of these birds were of large size and therefore possibly both female. I again saw these birds around 1:45pm and watched them for a couple minutes as they flew towards me in a downstream direction (towards Belleview Park). After an extremely close (15 meters) fly-by of these two birds it was clear that one of these two birds was not only smaller in size but also was much lighter underneath with only slight streaking on its underside. The other larger bird had heavy streaking on its white underside and appeared to have a noticebaly slower wing-beat when flying side-by-side with the other bird. I apologize for this mistake, especially after all nice views of Gyrfalcon I have had this winter (and past winters) to use as reference.
Just to note...two immature and one adult Bald Eagle were also out on the ice feeding, very close to where the two Gyrfalon had set down. Ken McIlwrick [EMAIL PROTECTED] Forest Ecologist / Ecologiste forestier Canadian Forest Service / Service canadien des Forests Great Lakes Forestry Centre, 1219 Queen St. E. Centre de foresterie des Grands Lacs, 1219, rue Queen Est Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario P6A 2E5 Tel/Tél(705)541-5643,Fax/Téléc (705)-541-5700 "McIlwrick, Ken" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
