Falco Rusticolus aka Gyrfalcon, Wyoming

I had taken my wife to Jackson, Wyoming at Christmas time so that we could ride in a "One Horse Open Sleigh". Dog it was cold! While we were there I met a man who was a Falconer working his birds and he consented to let me photograph them... What a treat! This little bird was one of them. He had killed a rabbit earlier and was using rabbit meat as bait for the birds to work. This little Gyrfalcon was on its lunch and was warning me to come no closer, which I was happy to oblige. The man also had a hybrid bird that was a cross between a Gyrfalcon and a Peregrine Falcon. The Gyrfalcon was a bird who had been injured and he had rehabbed it. I don't know where the hybrid came from. But it was truly awesome to see them work. BTW, a Peregryn Falcon, which he had one of also, can kill a full size swan in mid flight. They can dive at over 200mph and just collide with the Swan. Nature is amazing.