Gyrfalcon seen today in Marquette

[William Mueller]

Today, at about 9:30 AM, a group of 18 of us on a field trip to the UP saw
the dark-morph Gyrfalcon (first reported about a week ago) in Marquette.
All of us saw the bird very well. We first saw it in flight over the harbor
and over the breakwater, after which it quickly reurned to the inner harbor
and perched on the far northwestern upper corner of the ore dock, about 6-8
feet down from the top-most edge of the oredock. We watched it for about 15
minutes, then changed our position to a vantage point a bit further south,
where we could see it from another angle. This individual is dark
blackish-chocolate in color, with some white feathering in the upper
breast. The bird looked like it had a darkish cere, so I think it is a
juvenile, but it was a dark morning and I am not 100% certain about this
coloration. At its closest to us, the bird was about 80 meters away. This
bird looks quite massive, so I'm guessing it is a female.


William P. Mueller
Milwaukee, WI 
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