Over the weekend I went in search of winter raptors. I was mainly focusing on Snowy Owls and this year they have been scarce to say the least around Saskatoon. I decided to head south, went down towards Gardiner Dam hopeful to come across a few SNOW's and maybe a Prairie Falcon or Gyrfalcon. First owl I found was by Glenside, looked like an adult male Snowy but it wasn't interested in what I had to offer. I checked around Gardiner Dam, came up with nothing. It was foggy and it began to snow so I headed back on the west side of the Dam towards Macrorie. I found a dark SNOW and setup for it. I ended up catching it and it was a big adult female. She was in great shape and weighed a heafty 2200 grms.
Adult Female SNOW
I continued west and found an even darker bird hunting along the highway and flying across the highway diving into the ditches. She came up with nothing so I setup and caught her. She was a young SNOW from this year.
Young Female SNOWI was also fortunate enough to come across a Gyrfalcon south of Saskatoon along highway 219. It was sitting along a powerline and was caught within 20 mins. This is the first GYRF i've banded. Very impressive bird, very strong and very powerful. It was a 2 year old Grey phase female and it weighed in at 1878 grms!!!! So far its been a very productive winter.
Juvenile Gyrfalcon
Mike Blom
Saskatoon Sask Canada
