This last weekend, the family went up to Vancouver for a few days, and on
one of those days we drove up toward Whistler, picnicking and wandering
around in the tidelands near Squamish. There are some nice paths there with
good view access to marshy nearshore habitat.

I spotted a falcon trying to nail a starling in a small flock, but missing,
and when I got the glasses on it I was surprised to see it was a merlin,
rather than a peregrine. It was nice enough to perch and give me a couple
minutes of viewing before winging off -- and although I've checked my lists
several times, it turns out I've never officially "seen" one before. (Though
I have seen them, it's just that other people always said something like,
"hey, look at that merlin!")

Hard to believe that I've been birding over twenty years and never had one
before. Yay!

-Josh Hayes, josh at blarg.net