An unusual Gyrfalcon

Geofalcon is one of the most sought-after birds in Hokkaido. It's a rare winter visitor, probably annual, but sightings of it are often kept secret and not widely shared. It also seems birds don't stick around for so long, so even if you do get to hear about one, it's probably already left by the time you get the news. There are a lot of empty windswept beaches and coastal grasslands in Hokkaido, ideal places to find a geofalcon. A lot of these places are rarely visited by bird watchers, so this species may well be under-recorded. But this isn't always the case. This spot near Hakodate actually had two regular overwintering geofalcons in the late 1990s and in late 2013 a juvenile appeared. This bird stayed about four months and a lot of birders came to see and photograph it. This handful of clips are the only videos I took of it. I really wish I'd taken more. I had plenty of opportunities but was too lazy to drag my tripod through the snowdrifts. A couple of years later another birder jokingly suggested that it could have been a hybrid or an escape and it got me thinking a little bit. It was an unusual colour which is reminiscent of a Seika falcon. Could it have been a hybrid? It was also very tame and approachable. Could it have been accustomed to humans already? Its tail feathers showed damage too. Could they have been damaged by time spent in captivity? It also showed some slightly atypical behaviour. Normally falcons don't eat fish but as you can see here this individual definitely did. I posted some photos on a well-known birding forum and one or two members suggested it could be a hybrid based on its colour and also an escape due to its tameness and the damage to its tail feathers. However nobody was really sure so I reached out to a falconry group on Facebook to get their opinions. The falconry group was very helpful. They suggested, as had some on the birding forum, that its tameness could easily be explained by the fact it was a juvenile and had probably never seen humans before. They were also unanimous it wasn't a hybrid although they agreed it was an possibly explained by a rare mutation. Actually several other individuals that have turned up in Hokkaido in recent years look quite similar to our bird. It was also suggested the damaged tail feathers were a result of it tussling with prey on the coarse volcanic sand and using its tail as a pivot. A falconer from Tokyo said it was unlikely to be an escape as all falcons in Japan are ringed and anyway this species is not often kept in Japan as it apparently doesn't tolerate the humid summers here. Its consumption of fish could easily be explained. There's a large seafood processing factory nearby and many gulls and kites feed on the scraps. Our bird was actually seen stealing food from them on occasion. It didn't seem to enjoy the fish and struggled to eat it anyway. With all that in mind I'm happy to count this as a genuine wild Gyrfalcon. It left in early April 2014. The next winter everyone was anticipating its return hopefully in adult plumage but it never came back. One individual possibly the same bird I don't know was seen by one person on one day a couple of years later at this spot but as far as I know no Gyrfalcon has been seen here since. I really hope one day I can see another one hopefully a white adult. I still check this spot every winter on a few occasions because well you just never know. Here's a selection of photos. Thanks for watching.