Hi everyone,



This afternoon was a banner day for raptors for the yard list.? In early afternoon after arriving home from leading a field trip to Three Forks Natural Area (trip report to follow later) I heard raptor vocalizations and looked up to see three OSPREY soaring several hundred feet over the house and drifting slowly in the general direction of Mount Si.? I've seen similar behavior on the Deschutes River in central Oregon, where on occasion Osprey will soar and circle in the manner of buteos and not in a way or over an area where they are likely to be?hunting.? There is an Osprey nest on the South Fork of the Snoqualmie a couple of miles as the bird flies from the house, so perhaps this was a family group out with Junior for some flight training?? As there are only a few suitable hunting grounds near our house (Lake Alice is one), Osprey sightings from the yard or our general neighborhood?have been fairly uncommon.



A couple hours later, I noticed a raptor on one of two "raptor snag" trees near our house - very tall Doug Firs along an open area with dead tops but live otherwise - where I have seen falcons, buteos and accipiters over the last few years of serious watching.? This one turned out to be a MERLIN - a juvenile male Taiga race individual which provided about twenty minutes of study time in the scope while alternately preening and perch hunting.? Interestingly, a crow came flying by while I was watching and made a half-hearted dive at the Merlin but then apparently concluded it was too small to worry about and didn't return for repeated runs at the falcon.? Also, a flock of about eight goldfinches landed in the top of a fir about twenty yards from the Merlin and several times sallied forth in a small group and circled above the falcon - always above and not ever coming very close to the Merlin.? This looked like somewhat reckless behavior to me and didn't faze the Merlin at all, but the falcon never went after the finches.?



Out of curiosity, I went to my yard database for other Merlin sightings, and all have been in the fall previously - this one being the earliest seen - although there certainly should/could be resident birds in this general area.? The four previous sightings in the 2006-current period were:



October 13, 2007 - 2 Taiga birds (sex and age not recorded)

October 28, 2007 - 1 flyover bird, probably Taiga

September 3, 2008 - 1 Taiga bird (sex and age not recorded)

October 29, 2008 - 1 Taiga bird (sex and age not recorded)



Wheeler's western raptors book has range maps for the three western races of Merlin (Taiga, Pacific/black, Richardson's/prairie) and the Snoqualmie area should be in or close to the year-round range for this race, so it's a bit curious to me that all?my yard sightings have been in the three month Aug-Oct period.? Perhaps these are post-breeding dispersal young of the year birds, and the opportunity for anecdoctal sightings just happens to be higher at this time of year...??



Any?additional info?from the falcon experts out there would be appreciated...!





John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net