Hi everyone,



In late August, I had a MERLIN show up in a snag tree near our house and have a successful hunt (probably at the expense of one of 'my' birds).?



Today, a Merlin (presumably the same bird...?) showed up in the same tree.? I saw?its unmistakable flight?profile when it made a hunting foray off the tree?and ran to get the scope and binocs.? It came back, without any prey, and perched again - clearly in hunting mode, with very active head movements checking for potential prey in all directions.? While it was sitting there, a Northern Flicker decided to fly to the tree - whether to try to evict the Merlin or unaware of its presence wasn't clear - but the second the flicker landed on a branch, the Merlin went after it, diving several times on it with the flicker vociferously protesting the rude welcome.? Considering the flicker is bigger than a Merlin, it is doubtful the Merlin was doing anything other than maintaining its solo claim to the hunting perch, and shortly came back.? Just after arriving back, a crow, clearly with the intent of mobbing the Merlin, made a beeline toward the falcon.? Apparently Merlin tactics ascribe to 'the best defense is a good offense' because the Merlin saw the crow and immediately set after it, diving on it several times, and causing the crow to start swearing in crowish, while beating a hasty retreat.? Satisfied that it could now hunt in peace, back came?the Merlin.? I then watched it make four or five hunting forays from the perch, but it came up empty each time and eventually flew off and didn't return.?



It appeared that the hunting method wasn't necessarily targeting a particular bird, at least not every time.? The falcon would start off in flight in a given direction (it varied this direction for each foray) and then either go into a fairly steep stoop (twice) or just a steeper and faster glide angle into an area where it must have seen or suspected birds were present.? On one of these hunts, the bird disappeared on the far side of our house (I was in the back yard watching this) but I knew immediately when it circled back because every goldfinch in or near our yard let out alarm calls and started to scatter.? The Merlin skimmed the top of our house and made a run at - but missed - a couple of goldfinches that were making a beeline into one of our Doug Firs.?



I was hoping for a successful hunt on the theory the bird might be tempted to stay around, but the falcon went away empty-handed.?



For those who have not taken Bud Anderson's raptor class, his mantra is 'Never take your eyes off a falcon when you have it in sight.'? If the bird is digesting a meal, then maybe staring at it will be non-eventful, but if it is actively hunting or in flight, keep your eyes glued to it because fireworks often follow.?



John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net

www.tubbsphoto.com


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