DC merlins?

[Haninah Levine]

Hi all,

This weekend, I saw a pair of brown-and-white falcon-shaped birds fly over my yard in uptown DC, near Silver Spring. Their flight was fast and direct. My first thought was that they were merlins, but since merlins seem to be rare in this area at this time of year, I wanted to get others' opinions.

I can rule out accipters (which I see regularly in my neighborhood), because the wings were pointed and sickle-shaped, almost gull-like. I can rule out gulls, because the coloration was wrong, the tail shape was wrong, and the flight style was wrong. They could have been peregrines (which I have seen on occasion in DC, though never before in my neighborhood), but they seemed too small and slim (though I realize that absolute size is a poor field mark for a flyover). By the same reasoning, I suppose they could have been kestrels (which I have not seen before in DC), but I'm pretty confident that they were too large for that. Finally, nighthawks would be a possibility (seen them in our yard), but the time of day and time of year were both odd.

Thanks!

[Pat]

We had a Merlin zip past our yard yesterday. It swooped down on the Mourning Doves on the ground below the feeder and then powered by, going almost due north.

It seems a little early for them to heading northward already, so I'm interested to know about this other sighting.

Pat Valdata

Crisfield, MD

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group 'Maryland & DC Birding'.
To view group guidelines or change email preferences, visit this group on the web at http://www.mdbirding.com
Unfamiliar with a hotspot mentioned on this list? Quickly locate it here - http://www.mdbirding.com/hotspot.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maryland & DC Birding" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mdbirding+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/6ca59921-9d30-4ffb-9ee0-81da97f3ba2d%40googlegroups.com.

[JAMES SPEICHER]

On Tue, Feb 18, 2020 at 5:26 PM Pat <pval...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We had a Merlin zip past our yard yesterday. It swooped down on the Mourning Doves on the ground below the feeder and then powered by, going almost due north.

I had one 1/25/20 on the FredCo MW count:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S63783904

and Joe Hanfman had one on 12/31/19 in HAG City Park:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62804900

Jim S

[Rob Hilton]

That's a nice sighting; I hope your birds return. Merlins can be found in winter at Brookside Gardens/Wheaton Regional Park in Wheaton, Montgomery County.

Rob Hilton

Silver Spring

[Jeffrey Bingenheimer]

And I saw a pair of them in Wheaton Park on 1/19.

> On Feb 18, 2020, at 5:33 PM, JAMES SPEICHER <jugor...@gmail.com> wrote:

> --
> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group 'Maryland & DC Birding'.
> To view group guidelines or change email preferences, visit this group on the web at http://www.mdbirding.com
> Unfamiliar with a hotspot mentioned on this list? Quickly locate it here - http://www.mdbirding.com/hotspot.html
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maryland & DC Birding" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mdbirding+...@googlegroups.com.

> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/CAAaQ%3DiaSWhOTCMvQvQ7E5xworE2P30YJUO_9J7tm0qskWdr9dw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Clifford Comeau]

Saw a Merlin flying over Riderwood Village this morning about 8:15, flying fast and direct toward the east.

Cliff Comeau

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/62E08D2A-FC4B-4473-A918-3A3AB5DD315D%40gmail.com.

[world oceans]

Hi, I have been birding in north central Georgia recently, at spots where I usually see a few Merlins every winter. This year they seem to have cleared out by the second week of January. Other birds, e.g. sharpshins, songbirds and a few groups of sandhill cranes, also began moving somewhat earlier than usual this year. So glad to hear that my beloved Maryland is enjoying the merlin movement!

James Gibson,

ex-Silver Spring

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/CAFOnNO01r6iYeE2UBbTkxrWdcR%2BQN-K-P87nSYO0riNCM5JOug%40mail.gmail.com.