Subject: [Tweeters] Seattle Merlins 2012
Date: Jul 9 12:03:08 2012
From: Marv Breece - marvbreece at q.com


In 2008, Kim McCormick found a Merlin nest in Seattle. To my knowledge that was the first Merlin nest in Seattle. Since that time, additional Merlin nests have been discovered in the Seattle area by Kim and others. In 2008, I remember Bud Anderson saying that the Merlin population would rise rapidly in Seattle. He was right.

Kim and I decided that yesterday we would visit as many nest sites as we could and just for fun see how many Merlins we could find in a single day in the Seattle area.

We saw 22 Merlins yesterday!

I don't feel comfortable describing exact nest locations in this post, but I can provide a general idea as to where we saw these birds.

North Seattle: 6 (1 adult male, 1 adult female, 4 juveniles)
Shoreline: 9 (2 adult males, 7 juveniles)

Mountlake Terrace: 6 (1 adult male, 1 adult female, 4 juveniles)

Richmond Beach: 1 adult male

Who knows how many Merlins there are in the area. Prior to 2008 Merlins were winter visitors in the Seattle area. I personally had never seen a Merlin in Washington state during the months of May and June until 2008.

Things have changed.


Marv Breece
Seattle, WA
marvbreece at q.com