Bird of the Week: Merlin
Sunday, January 28th, 2007
We had a great outing in the Kleinburg this Saturday, looking for raptors and owls. The hit of the day was probably the five long-eared owls we found in a line of pines at the Nashville Cemetery. But it was a great day for hawks and falcons also. This Merlin seemed to be glued to a branch for a good half hour. The bird barely moved except to occasionally swivel his head 'round to glare at us. This mash-up photo was made made by holding a digital camera up to the eyepiece of a scope. Couldn't get a single decent shot to describe the bird, so I put together the vignetted views of all the bad ones. A picture is worth a thousand words — and sometimes it takes eight mediocre shots to net just one Merlin.
