Eastgate Merlin update --

After all the Merlin fun this summer around my yard and neighborhood here
in Bellevue-Eastgate, nesting and successfully fledging a brood, and all
the attendant racket over that four-week period, mid-June to mid-July, things
gradually went quiet by late July as the birds moved further and further
away and the cries grew fainter and fainter with each passing day. August
was quiet with but maybe two brief visits by a juvenile or two that I was
aware of but could have easily missed others.

Starting about two weeks ago, Merlin activity has ramped up again. It
appears to be the adult male making daily visits, sometimes mornings, but
especially mid-late afternoons and sticking around for up to a few hours. It's
presence is impossible to miss even if I don't actually see it as it's
rapid 'chittering' call rings through the neighborhood. Occasionally nice
views are afforded when perched atop or near the top of one of the tall and
same favored Douglas Firs where it's repertoire is quite varied, a half-dozen
or more calls ranging from full on 'chittering', most often when in-bound
and in circling flight, to short soft 'chittering' phrases to just simple
single note 'chits' when perched. These latter single note 'chits' would
probably pass unnoticed had I not known the Merlin was up there at all and
has the soft quality of a distant Douglas Squirrel or something between a
muffled chip of a Red Crossbill and an Evening Grosbeak.

It surprises me that Merlins can be this 'noisy' at all, especially now
(September and post breeding) when compared to other raptors and falcons at
any season, they all utter calls from time to time but none as persistent as
this Eastgate Merlin. I had never even heard a Merlin that I was ever
aware of in life before this summer, and now it's pretty common place around
here when one is visiting. Whatever it is about my yard and this
neighborhood, it sure seems to be to this Merlin's liking, and I hope this is a good
sign of territorial fidelity and I can hardly wait 'til next spring/summer
to see if I have another brood in the making. As things look now, I'm
feeling pretty optimistic that there will be a repeat.

The 'chittering' I hear most often can be heard here:
_Merlin Falcon Foundation_
(http://www.merlinfalconfoundation.org/vocalizations)
Just scroll down to and click on "Male Merlin chittering #1" ... an exact
rendition! All four examples at this web site are quite familiar
vocalizations I've often heard this summer.

P.S. One other yard 'novelity' and a regular to the insect laden suet cake
feeder is the adult female Pileated Woodpecker now in shimmering fresh
post-molt plumage which sports a single and surprisingly long tropicbird-like
"plume" ... a wire filament extending from the lower back nearly a foot and
obviously a radio antenna. This radio-tagged Pileated has been a regular
now for a few years, but lately the antenna seems much more obvious, maybe
a relatively recent replacement(?), it's impossible to miss, but doesn't
seem to interfere or compromise the bird's activities or health at all.

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate south of 90)