That's okay--as a whole community working together, we usually get things straight in the end. I'm pretty sure I met Dave Evans, when I went on a Snowy release for the Raptor Center. He led us through the Superior port "maze" to the best spot for the release; never could have found it without him. Linda
On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 7:11 PM, Chris West <[email protected]> wrote: > Correction: It was Dave Evans who banded the Gyr and NOT David Alexander. > One of these days I'm going to get everyone's names right... sigh... > > My apologies. > > Thanks to Frank N and Mike H for catching that and bringing it to my > attention. > > > --Chris W > > On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 5:09 PM, linda whyte <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Does anyone know if the Gyrfalcon currently overwintering in Superior, WI >> might be the same one that was seen for a few winters in a row in Dakota >> County? I don't recall the Dakota one being banded, though I saw it >> several >> times. But I have heard that the Superior one was banded by Jackie >> (Fallon?) over 14 years ago and is the oldest living one in banding >> record; >> not that the views we had of it yesterday allowed us to see a band. >> >> Nevertheless, this was a very impressive bird to see. We had first sought >> it in mid-morning with no luck. Having heard it's usually seen between 2 >> and 4 in the afternoon, we returned to Connor's Point then. Despite 2 >> hours >> of diligent searching from just outside the Peavey grain elevator >> property, >> we couldn't find it on any of the structures and decided to leave. >> Before departing, we drove the length of the dead-end road, looking for >> another glimpse of a Hoary Redpoll we'd seen in a small garden there. >> While >> we were doing that, the Gyrfalcon flew into the Peavey property, according >> to another birder there. We were scrutinizing the structures as we drove >> out, and Curt spotted the bird just as the other birder was trying to >> signal us. He and Rob worked to find good scoping scoping points. >> The bird had landed on the northwest corner (harbor side) of a tall, >> square >> stanchion of metal struts in front of the building with the red "Peavey" >> lettering. By perching there, it was likely able to scan the nearby flock >> of mallards foraging on the SE corner of the Peavey rail-lot, without >> being >> seen by the ducks. >> It spent about a half hour perched, facing the sunlight, affording us >> great >> looks in our scopes at its facial features and belly. It turned its head >> over its back, presumably to the oil gland above its tail, and preened a >> bit. When it lifted a leg to scratch its chin and pick at its talons, I >> never thought to look for a band. Shortly afterward, around 5:00, it took >> off, dropping behind the buildings out of our sight. We did not re-locate >> it. It was a magnificent bird to see, and it would be nice to know if it >> might be the same one that sojourned here in MN. >> >> Linda Whyte >> >> ---- >> Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net >> Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html >> > > > > -- > Happy Birding! --Chris W, Madison, WI > Tour Leader > Swallowtail Birding Tours > https://www.facebook.com/Swallowtailbirdingtours?ref=hl > http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com > http://www.flickr.com/photos/swallowtailphoto > > > Interpretive Naturalist > Mississippi Explorer Cruises > http://mississippiexplorer.com/ > [email protected] > > > > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
