This juvenile gyrfalcon appeared at the San Jacinto Wildlife area, near where I live in southern California, in January 2012.   Its presence was a bit of a shock, as gyrs are birds of Arctic regions.   A few typically disperse southwards into the northern US during winter, but I believe this individual is by far the southernmost record for California.   I found it eating a coot on the ground, and for the next several weeks it stayed in the area, eating more coots (or as they came to be called by some of the local birders, "black-morph ptarmigan" -- an inside joke as in their normal habitats, gyrs feed heavily on ptarmigan).   During its visit the gyr was seen by large crowds of visiting birders, but usually kept fairly far away.   However, one day in early February it flew close by a small group of us, grabbed a coot after about 15 seconds total flight time, and ate it -- but alas, just a little bit below the rim of a berm, precluding a nice image of the whole bird.
           Gyrfalcons have the typical falcon shape, with long, pointed wings, but the gyr's wings are a little broader and more rounded than those of the two other large North American falcons, the peregrine (more images here) and the prairie falcon.
            More pictures of this bird, taken on the day it first appeared, are on this page.   WARNING:   some photos below will be disturbing to coot lovers.

• Canon 1D4; 800 mm IS lens, some with 1.4X converter (2012)