Having been among the 'lucky party of 7' who enjoyed the serendipitous
sighting of the White-winged Crossbill flock at Carnation Marsh (King Co)
during yesterday's (Sa 12/15) Eastside CBC, a bit further down the road, we all
shared in a very interesting Merlin sighting, excellent scope views and
all. This bird was exceedingly pale, pale gray to powder blue above,
underparts more whitish than buff with fine crisp streaking. Perched atop a snag
feeding on some small bird as feathers drifted away in the wind, this was
the palest looking Merlin I think I've ever seen, and we concluded this was
likely the Prairie (Richardson's) subspecies. Although no photos were
obtained, here's an image grabbed from Wiki Commons that illustrates an
excellent example. See: _Prairie Merlin_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Falco_columbarius_Male.jpg)

I don't recall having ever seen a Merlin such as this in Washington State
before but I think I remember mention of reports posted occasionally on
'tweeters' although none in recent, maybe having been seen up on the Skagit
and perhaps elsewhere (more likely eastern WA?). I'm sure the Merlin gurus
out there have a pretty good handle on this and I would love to see some
feedback. Seems reasonable that these pale Merlins might be expected from
time to time since Alberta and Saskatchewan appear to be it's geographic
breeding stronghold, but post-breeding (wintering) birds if not remaining in
place most typically disperse a bit south and southeast from there, Montana
and beyond. Westward, especially west of the Cascades is perhaps more
irregular?

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA