Subject: [Tweeters] Call for merlin sightings
Date: Jul 6 12:32:10 2017
From: Benjamin Johnson - tiger80 at hotmail.com


Hello All. It's been a busy summer for Kim and I as we continue our merlin study in the Seattle-area. We've been following over a dozen nests this summer, some of which are starting to fledge. The noisy and active young merlins provide a great way to locate new breeding territories. Whereas the nest sites have been relatively quiet since incubation started, with the young merlins now starting to take wing the noise level (and probability of finding new nesting territories) goes way up. We'd be greatly appreciative of any merlin sightings to help us fill in the gaps and expand our known territories. Of particular interest are merlin sightings involving multiple merlins, such as male/female adults involved in prey transfer and nest defense, or groups of recently fledged merlins. Our main study area is north Seattle, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mountlake Terrace, and Edmonds, but we'd also be interested in hearing of sightings south of the Ship Canal Bridge and in the greater Puget Sound area.


And as always, keep your eyes open for banded merlins, we'd love to hear about any banded merlin sightings or see photographs. The bands are either blue or red, and have two stacked letters (blue bands) or two-digit horizontal numbers (red bands). The opposite leg from the color band would be the USGS silver band.


Thanks!


Ben Vang-Johnson and Kim McCormick

206-276-1095[X]