According to the latest Bull's Birds of NY State, "This is one of our rarest winter visitants..." Recently, this Bird has become an annual winter visitor. A dark adult at Fairhaven SP on Lake Ontario in January of 2001 was seen by many. A juvenile was seen many times over the winter of 2002-2003 along Aurora Bay in Cayuga Lake. That individual is represented by 6 digiscoped photos on this website under "GYRFALCON". Refer to the link at the bottom of this page. I offer two sets of Gyr' photos for now, for the sake of comparison.
I observed the Bird initially with Richard Ashworth. It came flying in and scattered the many hundreds of Gulls that were sitting on the ice. After briefly perching near a residence, it returned to a spot behind the bait and tackle shop. Richard and I got a few minutes of scope observations before the Bird was once again aloft. Sodus Bay, NY. February-2004. CP-4500, Swarovski ST-80 HD set at 30X zoom.
I should have switched cameras well before this point! The Gyr' came in as close as 10 feet to molest some Canada Geese that were calmly loafing on the ice. Despite several buzzing passes, the Geese didn't budge! Sodus Bay, NY. February-2004. CP-4500, Swarovski ST-80 HD set at 30X zoom.
The Gyr' flew off toward the Coast Guard station. I drove out toward that direction. About halfway, I spotted the Gyrfalcon in the top of a Cottonwood tree overlooking the bay. It remained there for nearly an hour, and allowed great looks. Sodus Bay, NY. February-2004. Canon EOS-10D, EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. ISO 200, Evaluative metering.
I was hoping to get a better shot of the legs. The Bird was said to have been banded. I couldn't see any adornments, but the tree branch completely blocked my view most of the time. Sodus Bay, NY. February-2004. Canon EOS-10D, EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. ISO 200, Evaluative metering.
The photos above represent an adult Bird. You can compare/contrast with a juvenile Gyrfalcon at the other page by clicking below. Sodus Bay, NY. February-2004. Canon EOS-10D, EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. ISO 200, Evaluative metering.