There is a possible Gyrfalcon in the Towson vicinity which may be an escaped bird from Kentucky (see messages below). Please be on the lookout for this bird and if you see it, check to see if it has jessies on!

Dave

David Curson, PhD
Director of Bird Conservation,
Audubon MD-DC,
2437 Eastern Avenue,
Baltimore  MD  21224
Tel: (410) 558 2473
E-mail: 


-----Original Message-----
From: LEADER, Rick 
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 9:15 AM
To: CURSON, David
Subject: FW: gyrfalcon spotting north of baltimore md ?




-----Original Message-----
From: Richard [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 7:25 AM
To: ; BOURQUE, Amy; LEADER, Rick;

Cc: 
Subject: gyrfalcon spotting north of baltimore md ?


 
> > I think  I saw a Gyrfalcon in Towson.
> > It looked like this ...  

<http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/enlarged.asp?imageID=17707>  
 
> > Richard 
 

Dear Audubon Folks,

If this is important information, please
pass it along and let me know what I should
do about it.  I am a sub-amateur birder in
Baltimore.  On Monday before noon, I saw
calmly perched on a lamppost above a busy
intersection in Towson -- a densely populated
northern suburb -- a very large whitish bird,
with gray speckeled wings, looked like an
owl, but its head was round like a bullet
and smaller (narrower) than its shoulders.
Looked male to me, but that's only a guess. 
Very magestic, and didn't seem to mind the
moderate traffic twenty feet below. 

On the internet (enature.com) it looked to 
me to be a Gyrfalcon.  My friend Steve Estes
fwd'd me the following, and we're wondering 
if a rare Gyrfalcon may have escaped from 
KY to MD.  I have not phoned the numbers ... 

Richard Tryzno Ellsberry
Baltimore Maryland
Towson University
(410) 377-4972

 
 
> Sighting  either  a  gyrfalcon in  white  phase  or  a snowy owl would 
> be  
> extremely rare ,at  this  latitude  and  at this time  of year.  I'm not  
> saying  its  impossible   but .... a white  gyrfalcon would   normaly be
> in Iceland 
>  or  Greenland however  it might just be  this  one
  
<http://www.surfbirds.com/phorum/read.php?f=102&i=4740&t=4740>
    
> Author: Kathy Caminiti
> Date:   10-27-06  12:01
> 
> Hello All !
> 
> Please keep a lookout for a Gyrfalcon that was  lost yesterday by a
> falconer
> in Verona, Ky. (Boone County).
> 
> The  batteries went dead in the transmitters. And the Gyrfalcon does have
> jesses  on.
> 
> Any sightings, please call the falconer Paul Bronc at 859-240-2418  right
> away.
> 
> Good Birding,
> Kathy  Caminiti
> 859-689-4166
> 
> 
> 
> you should report  what you saw  to  the  local  audubon  society as 
> well_http://www.audubon.org/chapter/md/md/welcome.htm_ 
> (http://www.audubon.org/chapter/md/md/welcome.htm) 
>