Between 5 and 9 p.m. yesterday evening, 5 young Merlin siblings entertained themselves, myself, photographer Ray White and some passersby. They not only chased each other and other birds around, but settled briefly on rooftops, gutters, utility wires as well as the usual conifer tree branches. It is rare to see Merlins operating at a height lower than 50 ft, but it has been common for the past 5 years for the newly-fledged young to spend some days playing and exploring the lower levels of their urban natal areas in North Seattle. Last night was a 'blast' for all involved! Looking forward to seeing some of Ray's shots...

Also of interest (and entertainment) was some hunting practice a couple of the youngsters had - Ray said they chased some other birds around and we both saw one work on a fircone as if it were a prey bird, including dropping it, as frequently occurs with young Merlins and the prey their parents bring them and some of their first catches, too. We did see one of the young hunters catch a large insect (moth?) and carry it off to a tree to down as a snack - perhaps this was its first self-caught food item :-)

Here's a link to my Flickr set of photos from this great event: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAstrc5

I suspect these young will continue this play and practice throughout the weekend - come on by - it's cheap entertainment, the weather is great and the neighborhood is welcoming (well, most of the folks are!) I'll be glad to send more specific directions to the site if you request them by email. See them while they're hot!

Kee-kee-kee!


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net