The 5 young nestlings are branching out away from the nest, but, as of Sunday evening, still call for and receive prey from the parents in the nest tree, each branchling receiving it's own. The siblings now seem to wait and beg patiently for their turn and don't mob the recipient to try tp share or take away another's meal - that may occur later on.
I saw one young Merlin fly to another tree yesterday afternoon. We could see 4 clustering together on branches near the down-laden nest last night at about 8:30 while both parents were on guard in trees nearby, doing agitation calls and diving into a tree that may have had a raccoon or cat inside it that they were worried about. Earlier in the day, 3 of us also heard lots of "concern" calling and then noticed an eagle flying high overhead and THEN, one of those other worrisome BIG birds, a Great Blue Heron, flew low out of a yard, into the street and kept going down the street, with one of the Merlins after it, convincing the heron that, for the time being, it would be a better idea for it to low-tail it out of the area of the little water feature it liked to frequent in search of food. I wonder if anyone has ever seen a heron with a young bird in its beak (like, maybe a cootlet or Pied-billed Grebelet?) and that that is why the Merlins react so to a Pterodactyl in their midst during vulnerable stages for their chicks???

The well-treed neighborhood, with open spaces aplenty, and friendly and interested residents (although there are, as always, some who are more interested in when these loud falcons will move on and stop being the morning wake-up at dawn), is a nice venue for Merlin-watching, as long as one sticks to public spaces (unless a neighbor has given permission for birder ingress). Careful parking is appreciated, too. And, the residents, as well as the birds in this neighborhood, have indicated they do not appreciate the use of either "call-out" to stimulate Merlin activity or the use of camera drones...

One of the residents last night told me that she is glad to assist visitors in finding the nest tree and the birds and other information - she said it feels good to be a part of such a positive experience in this day of all-too-many negative ones and she wishes more people would find the "joy of Birds" !!! I told her I heartily agree. I also gave her instant membership to the MDS (Merlin Docent Society) :-)

So, what I'm saying, with all of this, is that it is time, for the next couple of weeks, to visit this Pinehurst nest site, either for a quick addition to your county list or for a memorable experience of the combined pleasure of watching Merlins and their behaviors, as well as a little people-watching ! It's also starting to be a better time for photography or videoing, although many a "Big-lens" photographer has found this sort of photography "too high" or ungratifying for other reasons - however, a few have managed to score some mighty fine pictures - of course I am pleased to see ANY photo of this marvelous bird.

If you would like some information about/directions to, this NE Seattle Merlin site, or about the next Merlin fledging site in the area, please contact me off-list. These urban Merlins don't 'come out' (of the nest) at the exact same time, which gives us fans and fanatics, more chances to experience the exciting "Time of the Fledglings" . I'll report on one more site next week.

Here are some Merlin photos from the Pinehurst site this past weekend :

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZgMCQB

More Merlin photos from this year can be found in others of my Flickr albums, which I believe can be viewed if you click on "View all albums" after clicking on the above Pinehurst album link.

Enjoy the marvelous Merlins !


Barb Deihl
Matthews Beach Neighborhood - NE Seattle
barbdeihl at comcast.net


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