Yesterday at about 5:30 pm I was sitting outside enjoying the last of the warm weather, when a Merlin zoomed from the south straight as an arrow to the top of a 75ft spruce next to our porch. As it sat surveying our yard I ran in and got my binoculars to make sure it was not a Kestrel, although the high-speed direct flight was typical of a Merlin. It was a male Merlin, fresh clean plumage.
Within seconds a foolish or unaware BlueJay landed just 10ft below the Merlin, which looked down curiously at the BlueJay but to my surprise decided not to launch an attack. The BJay soon flew off but the Merlin sat around some more and finally flew off North. Its behavior made me suspect it was a young bird. Nari Mistry Ellis Hollow Rd -- _______________________ *Nari B. Mistry*, Ithaca, NY To see my paintings, visit http://www.ArtbyNari.com -- 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/ --
