Moving right along toward adulthood, the Seattle-area Merlin nestlings are now branching and fledging. As of Sat. night, the Pinehurst Five have all fledged, the Wedgwood Three and the Shoreline Four (and there may be more at each of these 2 sites), are branching and all are looking good and trying out their new-found voices. No falling has yet occurred that we know of, and hopefully they will have a good and successful time with all the training and playing they will experience in the next month-plus. Watch out dragonflies - you will soon be on their lists of "things to hunt" - for awhile, though, the parents will still bring them the usual mealtime fare.

So the fledglings will be active and very photogenic, but still quite a challenge to photograph, due to their speed, but mostly because they don't often operate at low altitudes. A sampling of images from last night's Shoreline Merlin Watch can be viewed by clicking on this link to my Flickr set, which includes some images of Sharon Fernandez' as well as mine - it is possible that I will add some from one of the other people who were trying their luck and skill in Shoreline.

: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGtKV8Z

You are welcome to come to any of these sites to view, listen to and attempt to photograph or video these attractive and fascinating birds of prey in the next couple of weeks while they are still flying and landing relatively near to their natal sites. You may contact me off-list for directions and more information.

Kee-kee-kee !


Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net