I've been sitting the last hour here in the cemetary, watching a (presumably) female merlin hanging out on the highest naked snag atop a pine, calling regularly and making frequent flycatcher-style forays. Then, a moment ago, a slightly different call signaled the arrival of a (presumably) male for a quick copulation and immediate departure.
After a long rest the female went out for another foray, but this time, on return it was displaced by a crow, which now owns that perch and looks enormous compared to how big the merlin had looked on the same branch. Suan _____________________ http://suan-yong.com/ On May 12, 2012, at 12:18 PM, Stuart Krasnoff <s...@cornell.edu> wrote: > After a discussion about Cape May Warblers I decided to stop at the Ithaca > City Cemetary to check the tall spruces. I didn't get that far. Just below > the Stewart Ave. entrance there's a short road that goes off sharply to the > north and over that road and up toward Stewart Ave. stands a white pine with > its top 20' dead and sere. I saw a lump near the top that turned out to be a > MERLIN with its back to me, either grooming or picking at some food. After a > minute of watching it, it dive bombed a cardinal and then flew to the south > into another white pine. I refound it perched near a dense packing of sticks > that might be a nest. To find the putative nest tree find the bench with the > short flagpole on the left of the main road where it bends sharply to the > right. Stand across the road (on the north side) at the bend and sight to > the left of the flagpole looking SSE. There are several pines up there just > 50 yards or so below Stewart AVe. The bird and nest (or collection of > sticks) was in the left-most tree maybe 20-25' from its top. Merlins have > been reported thereabouts perennially but this the first one I've found there. > > Marginal digivideo through my scope at: http://youtu.be/azf-ZZlmi9Q > > Best...Stuart > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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/ --
