You can add the Bellevue-Eastgate post nesting season territory of 3
(maybe 4) consecutive years to the list of post-nesting returnees. After a
busy-noisy-crazy nesting season around here, March thru July, things went quiet
through all of August and no sightings at all. During the first week of
September, I started seeing at least one immature Merlin again usually just
by chance and luck since it was always silent and when I just happened to
be looking up and in the right spot at the right time since the visits were
always brief, ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. Now, and during
the past couple weeks, the familiar 'kee-kee-kee-kee-kees' are back
accompanying the usually short visits, so it's gotten easier again to know when
one's about without looking and I can even hear it from inside the house. I
figured it was just checking out the old haunts like you might sometimes
do in just driving by a place YOU once lived years ago. I've haven't seen
more than one Merlin, just immature(s) so far, no adult(s), at a time but
when I do and watch/track it for awhile, if not just a flyover, it has been
seen going right back into the same tree and spot where the nest is/was
and/or perches near the tippy tops of the Douglas Firs where the new
fledglings/juveniles most liked when they were hanging around all through July.

This sort of post-nesting behavior has been observed around here for years
with occasional brief sightings during nearly every single month during the
past three or four years. So it appears this is not unique to just this
Bellevue-Eastgate location, rather several around lowland Puget Sound if
not all where nesting Merlins have established and maintained multi-year
territorial site fidelity. Hopefully, this is a good sign for things to come
in 2015. Thanks Barb for the heads-up posting on 'tweeters' and very timely
indeed!

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA