The largest of the falcon species! This photo was taken from 50 feet away on 26th February 2008, Aylmer, Deschenes Rapids, Ottawa River, Quebec. Whilst scanning the ice for a Harlequin Duck, this beast of a falcon flew through my binoculars! A dark morph-Gyrfalcon. The first dark morph for ten years in Ottawa. It appeared to land in a small wood lot a few hundred meters away. We relocated the bird, perched in a dead tree, overlooking the river. We proceeded to stalk the falcon down to 50 feet. The photo is digi-scoped.