Gyrfalcon! - 05 Feb 2022



Yara and I were snuggling on the futon when word came that John Fortener saw a Gyrfalcon at Elizabeth Park, Trenton, Wayne Co., MI. Just 20 minutes away. Yara got tossed (poor girl).

I arrived at Elizabeth Park and headed around to the east side across from the Pony Livery. Noone there and nothing to see. Natalie Cypher pulled up behind me and we chatted a bit. Then, a short time later a group of birders had scopes and cameras trained on the trees, so I headed over and saw the Gyrfalcon perched atop a dead tree in dramatic fashion.
















Five minutes later and a 1000+ digiscoped and telephoto images later the bird took off toward the Detroit River and scattered the flocks of gulls and ducks resting on the ice. Brian Beauchene would later find the Gyrfalcon on Grosse Ile and watch it fly back toward Elizabeth Park late in the morning.

After lunch I headed back to Elizabeth Park and found a group of birders watching the Gyrfalcon from the bridge over the canal at the entrance off West Jefferson. It was perched overlooking the canal filled with hundreds of Mallard, domestic hybrids, and a few Redhead. An American Coot was found on the opposite side of the bridge. After 40 minutes of watching the Gyrfalcon in 14F weather the bird took off again toward the river and was not refound until later by Karen Markey.





Below is the range map and ebird distribution map (sightings) of Gyrfalcon in North America. Lots of sightings in the region in past 4 years, but still a wonderful, majestic bird anywhere.


Thanks, John for a wonderful find!

Elizabeth Park (Trenton), Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 5, 2022 11:00 AM - 11:40 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Found by John Fortener.
5 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  24
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  120
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  2
Redhead (Aythya americana)  4
Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)  1     found by John Fortener across from Pony Livery in Elizabeth Park. Perched in tree overlooking Detroit River. Seen by several birders in the morning. Again the afternoon overlooking canal at entrance to park. see blog post: https://birdingthroughglass.blogspot.com/2022/02/gyrfalcon-05-feb-2022.html

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S102116931

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)