Falcon - Peregrine or Gyrfalcon?

Denman Island, Nanaimo, BC, Canada Feb 8, 2004
D2H 500/4 2x 1/200s f/8 No crop

My wife and I were hiking on the south end of Denman Island, which is in the Georgia Strait a little bit north of Nanaimo. At the end of the trail there was a lookout, with cliffs extending about 200 feet down to the ocean, and an excellent vista to the south. We ventured along the cliff and enjoyed the view for about half an hour. We packed up to go when I turned for one last look, and this falcon had perched on a snag about 200 feet away and level with me.

I steadfastly tried to maintain my calm as I took off my pack, unstrapped the tripod, set up the 500 with a 1.4 and quickly snapped some photos, feeling quite exultant. As it turned out the falcon was not in any hurry to go and I ended up taking over 100 photos with the 1.4, 2,0 and both stacked. As we finally decided to go (I had filled up my card) I decided to put in a smaller card and "just take a few more". This is the very last exposure, and I think it is the best.

The light was quite flat, so any suggestions on how to improve this in photoshop would be appreciated.

Anyway, the falson looked like a small bald eagle in size, maybe 24", although I am not that confident of my ability to estimate sizes. I understand that Gyrfalcons can winter here, but that it is unusual. Can anyone tell if this is a Peregrine or a Gyrfalcon?

A larger version can be seen at http://www.pbase.com/image/25953025/original