It is a ittle premature to count my eggs before they hatch, but ... .
Last year at this time 2 of seven Merlin nests in our area had failed, probably predation. This year 5 of 5 are still going strong, including the easily accessed nest in the top of a white Pine on South Titus St. behind Meadow Court Lodge. This can be watched from your car without disturbing the pair, which are already exposed to lots of human activity. The first eggs of any nest will probably hatch in a little more than a week. I found the Wells College nest thanks to someone who said they had heard a Merlin on campus, which was passed on to me, which inspired me to spend a pleasant half hour walking around the campus. It is about an hour drive one way for me, which is a little hard for monitoring survival a couple times a week, or better even monitoring prey brought to the nest. I am trying to determine Merlin nesting success in urban areas near Ithaca, and the prey species brought to the nest. Anyone interested in monitoring that nest? Ki KI KI KI John Confer 274-3978 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
