Our urban merlin is back at Patterson Park. I'm not sure if it really is the same individual that I have seen each March for the past 4 years but it has been a female on each occasion and seems very comfortable here (OK, maybe just a touch of anthropomorphising!).  She was plucking a prey item in a large tree when the resident male kestrel came and perched on an adjacent branch.  The merlin usually stays for about 3 weeks in March and early April.

Also present were: 1 fox sparrow, 1 chipping sparrow, 20 song sparrows, 20 juncos, 1 yellow-bellied sapsucker, 1 northern flicker, 3 golden-crowned kinglets, 3 coots and a pair of wood ducks.

Dave


David Curson, PhD
Director of Bird Conservation,
Audubon MD-DC,
2437 Eastern Avenue,
Baltimore  MD  21224
Tel: (410) 558 2473
E-mail: