Diane, Ken, and I arrived at the quarry along Hoster Road at 7:10 this morning to stake out the Gyrfalcon that has been reported there the past few days (and has wintered in the vicinity the past few winters - though perhaps not the same bird). Apparently the Gyr roosts on the west wall of the quarry and sallies forth each morning in search of prey. Between the pools at the Refuge, the north end of Cayuga lake, and the open stream that runs out through Canoga, there is certainly a robust selection of waterfowl to keep it well fed.
Our plan was to set up there at sunrise and wait until the Gyr headed out for breakfast. At 8:25 the bird flew into the bare trees just beyond the green machinery (rock-crusher?) and began to preen. We were fortunate that the light was strong and low, there was no wind, and the bird was not obscured by branches - and were able to observe it for a good half hour before leaving. A report from another birder a while later noted that it was no longer present. As noted in the eBird report, it is a large-bodied bird (full, deep chest) with gray mustache stripe (not as pronounced as with Peregrine), and gray-brown breast spots. One additional note here: Shortly after we arrived (around 7:25) a largish raptor flew rapidly past us, just above ground level, from south to north and disappeared between gravel piles back into the quarry. It happened so fast that we were not able to get any optics on it nor really fix on any significant field marks. I could have been the Gyr - or a Peregrine or, possible, a Cooper’s Hawk. Bob McGuire -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
