Hi everyone,



Well, the Merlin I reported a week or so ago made another appearance today - actually two appearances.? As I was working?on the computer at the kitchen table, which has a nice view into the yard and the greenbelt beyond, I saw a falcon form on a beeline for our house.? It came in low - just clearing the house and of course every other bird within view vanished for quite some time.? I went out to look to see if the bird had landed on the rooftop (too good to be true) or elsewhere within view - no luck.



Then just a couple minutes ago I saw the bird land in the popular 'raptor snag' uphill from our house - sure enough the Merlin again.? However, when I put the binocs on the bird, it was not alone.? The top ten feet or so of the 'raptor snag' Doug Fir is dead and is?of course the preferred perching site for the hawks and falcons.? However, below that dead limbs?the tree is still a very dense and living?Doug Fir.? The Merlin flew out from its perch and did a mini-dive toward the live branches, and I saw a Steller's Jay (and then a second one) silhouetted on one of the limbs.? When the Merlin dove, the jays would also dive in against the tree in the dense, live foliage, apparently figuring the falcon wouldn't be able to get them in there.? The minute the Merlin returned to its exposed perch, one or both of the jays would hop out of cover (but never very far out of cover!) and toward the Merlin.? Which apparently annoyed the Merlin, because it dove again and the jays dove for cover again.? This pattern went on for half a dozen or so iterations.? At one point the Merlin did three quick circles of the fir, periodically flying very close to the limbs and apparently feinting a run at the jays.? Although it was tempting to interpret this as 'play' (and who knows, maybe it was) it looked more like a tag team match calculated by the jays?to annoy the Merlin.? This apparently worked because after a few minutes of this corvid/falcon 'no you ain't; yes I am' contest, the falcon flew off to the east and out of sight.?



Not having resident Merlins out our way (at least that I'm aware of), it's been a real kick getting to watch this behavior at a pretty close distance.



Oh, yes, one other item.? Our caged suet feeder was not hanging where it should have been this morning, so I went out to re-hang it, figuring that a racoon had managed to dislodge it, which happened once before but simply required re-hanging.? Well, not this time.? The top was torn off the feeder, and the rest?was quite thoroughly mangled - there was not a straight piece of metal remaining.? No 'coon did that!? So it's now been replaced, but will be coming inside each night until the resident bears get sleepy and cuddle up in their dens for their winter nap.? Three blocks of suet that had just been put in a couple days ago was completely gone.? The bruin was rather rude - no thank you note was left.? Craig at Wild Birds Unltd. told me that they had an identical feeder returned once that a bear had grabbed, and squeezed like a toothpaste tube to get the suet to ooze?out.? Clever beasts, those...!?


?

John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net