On a Sunday in late April, many birding locations were not accessible due to the coronavirus. So I drove the streets of Tukwila thinking what to do next. I heard what I thought was a small piece of a Merlin vocalization. After thirty minutes of searching, I laid eyes on a pair of Merlins. A few minutes later, a likely nest came into focus. And it was less than a mile from home!

Over the following weeks, I visited the nest multiple times and shot videos of several stages of the Merlin reproductive process. I have just completed an 11 minute summary which may viewed on youtube at: [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmFtLHWdhg8 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmFtLHWdhg8 ]

For those of you for whom a Merlin is just another bird, a shorter video of season highlights: [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5d0CimGnyg&t=17s | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5d0CimGnyg&t=17s ]

On August 1, the juvenile male Merlin decided to take a shower in a lawn sprinkler next to where Kim McCormick and I just happened to be standing. That day deserved a video of its own: [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je0ySAgX4E0&t=18s | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je0ySAgX4E0&t=18s ]

I wonder where they'll nest next year...................


Marv Breece
Tukwila, WA
marvbreece at q.com


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