Day 18.340: Merlin (bird ID)

Our birding group (without our leader - get well soon!) returned to our old stomping ground at the cemetery for a chilly early morning walk. Here is some of what we saw. 

Downy woodpecker

White-breasted nuthatch

One of two adult red-tailed hawks we saw

We suspected they were calling to this young red-tailed hawk

I walked around to get a better view

And was spotted in return

Canada geese. The river was mostly frozen and we didn’t see any ducks

The hedges looked like they had a thick layer of icing on them

We were surprised to see only one squirrel

Our last sighting was of this small falcon pitched at the top of the Norway spruce tree that is usually our meeting spot. It is a merlin. 

Again, I managed to get a different angle to see its wing color.